The British Business Bank has launched a new report Spotlight: The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund. The report, published to mark the British Business Bank’s two-year anniversary, draws on the Bank’s own research together with other publicly-available data. It highlights the significant opportunities for ambitious, high-growth businesses in the North of England ahead of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF)’s formal launch in early 2017.
Specifically, the report details how the British Business Bank’s Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund will offer solutions for smaller businesses looking to grow, as well as identifying the strengths and challenges within the region:
The British Business Bank has worked with the Local Enterprise Partnerships, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and the Department for Communities and Local Government to direct European Regional Development Fund money into the fund. The British Business Bank is also investing £50m of its own capital in NPIF.
The £400 million fund is a central component of the government’s drive to boost long term growth and to narrow the historic North-South funding gap. NPIF will operate alongside a separate fund for the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), meaning that over £500 million of new investment in smaller businesses will be facilitated within the Northern Powerhouse region. At the same time, NPIF will help nurture the networks and wider ‘ecosystem’ that can continue to support these businesses as they grow.
The publication of the Spotlight report coincides with the two year anniversary of the British Business Bank formally receiving State aid approval, enabling its establishment as an independent institution owned by government. Over the last two years the Bank has made an important contribution to small business growth in the UK:
Its programmes have delivered a total of £4bn in lending and investment over the two-year period, generating an additional turnover of £8.5bn in small businesses across the UK.
This finance has resulted in nearly £3bn of additional gross value-added in the economy.
It has achieved this while delivering a positive return on capital employed to the taxpayer.
The Bank has also helped create a more diverse finance market, supporting new lenders and forms of finance. Over 90% of its finance is deployed through finance providers other than the Big Four (high street) banks. Its Business Finance Guide, co-published with the ICAEW and with contributions from across the finance sector, has also helped raise smaller businesses’ awareness of their funding options, reaching over 700,000 businesses.