£140m venture fund launched
THE new £140m venture capital loan fund set up by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) has been launched in the region.
The agency unveiled the European-backed fund at an event in Warrington attended by Treasury ministers Yvette Cooper and Jane Kennedy and Regional Minister Beverley Hughes and around 100 business leaders.
The £140m Venture Capital Loan Fund consists of £70m of European funding which will be used to support small and medium-size businesses unable to raise finance on the open market.
A £40m package to stimulate business investment in skills has also been announced and a new £10m programme has been set up to support high growth business.
“Obviously businesses can access financial support from a wide range of channels but what we are doing is strengthening, to reflect changing business concerns,” said the NWDA’s chief executive, Steve Broomhead.
“Businesses are now telling us that access to finance is their number one priority and we are making sure our services reflect that need,” he added.
This £140m fund, a priority project of the ERDF 2007-13 programme, is now out to tender and will be ready to take applications early in 2009.
