NPIF helps businesses survive through injection of £100m in support packages
The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) has invested more than £100m into more than 270 Northern businesses across nearly 400 transactions since the beginning of the April 2020.
£60m has been provided through NPIF-Debt finance, benefiting some 163 companies, while 92 firms have accessed £7m of NPIF-Microfinance across the North.
The NPIF Debt and Microfinance funds have been able to offer Government’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) backed loans.
Meanwhile, NPIF Equity investments totalled more than £35m, a number of which were invested alongside the Government’s Future Fund. Alongside these impressive figures nearly £150m of additional funding was co-invested from the private sector.
This investment has been crucial in supporting businesses to continue both operating and adapting by launching new products or services over the past year.
This trend is particularly strong in the digital sector, with 16% of the total number of investments made since the UK’s first lockdown benefitting information and communication businesses. In addition, 21% of investments were made into advanced manufacturing businesses, and 14% were made in the health and life science sectors.
One organisation that has been supported is Sheffield-based animation studio, Red Star 3D. The business is expanding its operations following a £100,000 loan from NPIF – Mercia Debt Finance, which will enable Red Star 3D to grow its team and produce more work for film companies worldwide.
NPIF-Maven Equity Finance led a £2m funding round for the business earlier in 2021, supporting the company in establishing its UK and China operations and growing its initial team to 12 employees.
As part of the 2020 Spending Review, the Chancellor announced an additional £100m allocation for the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, bringing the total for investment for Northern businesses to more than £500m.
Sir Roger Marsh, chair of the Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “I have seen first hand the difference the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund has made to the region’s economic development since it was established.
“With additional funds from the private sector, the NPIF has made almost a quarter of a billion pounds available to our region’s businesses since March last year.
“Over half of the NPIF’s investments since the start of the pandemic have been made into high growth sectors like digital, advanced manufacturing and health and life science.
“Backing innovative businesses like these to help create good, sustainable new jobs has the potential for the North to take a leading role in the recovery and as the UK builds new trading relationships with the rest of the world.”
Grant Peggie, at British Business Bank, said: “Over the last year, we’ve seen real determination and agility from the small business community across the North. Whether it has been used to simply survive or to adapt and thrive, this pandemic has demonstrated the transformational impact that funding and ongoing support can have on business success.”
He added: “We’ve worked closely with Combined Authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships, Growth Hubs, and other key stakeholders across the region to provide this level of investment and business support over the last year and we are proud that this collaborative effort is making a real difference to companies in the region.”
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.
