NW Fund ‘turning the corner’ – Bernstein
THERE is still “a lot of work to be done” to improve performance of the North West Fund, although progress is being made, according to Sir Howard Bernstein.
Sir Howard told TheBusinessDesk.com that North West Business Finance, which administers the fund, is “now on target” for lending after a difficult few months which has seen the departure of chief executive Andy Leach, a change in one of its fund managers, and most critically, the forced return of millions of pounds as a result of slow lending.
Sir Howard, chief executive of Manchester City Council and vice chair of the European Regional Development Fund’s North West Local Monitoring Committee – which supervises the Fund which is backed by ERDF cash – said: “In the last quarter it met its target for the first time.
“Adverts have gone out for a new chairman and a new chief executive of the North West Fund. All of us who have worked very hard to encourage the Fund to readjust its investment criteria and capacity to deliver can look forward with some confidence.
He added: “It’s not out of the woods, there’s still a lot of work to be done – we’ll be meeting them again in January to review progress.”
He said “complicated” factors had caused the issues around the Fund, namely the dismantling of the infrastructure around it – the abolition of the North West Development Agency.
“It was always going to be a tough ask for the Fund to negotiate this change – although some would argue it did not negotiate it fast enough and with the right strategy. This is now history and we are now looking for consistent progress.”
Former KPMG senior North West partner Malcolm Edge is interim chairman of the Fund, and it is thought he could be interested in making his role a permanent one.
Meanwhile, he revealed that public and private sector leaders are exploring plans to re-establish Greater Manchester as a hub for textile manufacturing.
Among the leading business figures AGMA has consulted are former Marks & Spencer chief executive Sir Stuart Rose and Liberal Democrat peer Lord Alliance, founder of Manchester home shopping group N Brown.
