£50m investment milestone for FW Capital and Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund
In just two-and-a-half years FW Capital has invested £50m from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) into 170 businesses across the North and created more than 600 jobs to date.
The funding is designed to drive innovation and growth across a broad range of sectors, from digital and software to manufacturing and construction.
Help is available for all business types, even where there are few tangible assets to lend against.
FW Capital was appointed in 2017 to manage NPIF-FW Capital Debt Finance to support businesses through two £51m funds covering both the North West and the Tees Valley & Cumbria.
Since then it has expanded its offices in Billingham, opened an office in Penrith and five new appointments this year alone have taken it to a team of 30 across the North.
Both the NPIF-FW Capital Debt Finance funds offer loans of between £100,000 and £750,000 and give commercially-focused businesses access to the capital they need to realise their growth plans through investing in new equipment, premises, staff, systems, product lines and a wide variety of other uses.
Gary Guest, FW Capital fund director for Cumbria and North West, said: “Access to investment capital is always one of challenges that SMEs face and we are pleased to be able to offer flexible finance to ensure Northern businesses achieve their commercial objectives.
“It’s been a big year for FW Capital and our investees and we look forward to building on this in 2020.”
Lancashire-based North West Logistics, in Altham, needed to invest in infrastructure to service several new contracts and following a recent property move is well positioned to increase revenues and profit.
Managing director Stephen Dunn said: “We needed additional growth capital to help us service new clients.
“This investment will allow us to step-change our business and increase profitability and cashflow. It will also lead to growth in turnover and jobs, creating around five new positions during the next 12 months.”
He added: “It is the second time we’ve received funding from FW Capital. We like working with them because the process of securing finance is robust and rigorous, but it’s not too onerous and they are quick to give a response.
“The terms also offer flexibility which suits the needs of our business.”
The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.
