29 June 2009

Additional Financial support for business in the Northwest

The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), with support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), has announced a £15m transitional venture capital (VC) & loan fund for businesses in the region, at the Business Finance 09 seminar in Manchester today (Monday 29th June).

The new fund, providing VC and loan funding has been created to ensure there is no gap in public finance support for businesses in the Northwest, whilst details on the new long term Northwest Venture Capital & Loan Fund are completed.

Steven Broomhead, Chief Executive of the NWDA revealed the details in his speech today, saying:

“I am pleased to be able to announce £15m of new VCLF funding today to help improve the finance options available to businesses in our region.

“A critical element of our finance portfolio is the new long term Venture Capital and Loan Fund which is currently in development.  We know a lot of people are waiting to hear about this multi-million pound fund. It is taking longer than anticipated but we have now agreed, with Government, a way forward in which to progress the structure of this fund.  And we are not alone – not one of the regional venture capital funds across England has yet been launched.

“Therefore, we have been working hard behind the scenes to put in place additional transitional funding to make sure we have no gaps in finance for business here in the Northwest and ensure we are ready for the up-turn in the economy.

“This new money will allow us more time to work with Government on the new VCLF whilst allowing business in our region access to VC and Loan funding during this challenging economic period.”

The Transitional support announced today is to help improve the finance options available to new and existing businesses in the Northwest, improving the lending available from commercial banks.

This new funding follows £10m of Transitional Loan funding announced by the NWDA in December 2008. This is a total of £25m the NWDA and the European Regional Development Fund have made available to businesses since December 2008. Total funding consists of £15m from NWDA and £10m of funding from the ERDF Programme.
 
Funding will continue to be available to businesses with a viable business plan which demonstrate an ability to service the borrowing required, but which have been unable to obtain such funding from conventional commercial sources and in the absence of such funding is exposing the business to the risk of significant short term contraction or endangering its existence altogether.

Venture Capital & Loan funding (VCLF) is a combination of loan, equity and mezzanine funding to support business growth. Loans range from £50,000 to £250,000 with Equity and Mezzanine finance available up to £2m.

The ERDF programme is backed by the Programme Monitoring Committee (PMC) – a group of senior representatives from across the region. The Group was formed to monitor, oversee and advise on the delivery of the programme and proved invaluable to the development of the new fund.

The NWDA is playing a crucial role in response to the current economic downturn, with a number of actions being taken to meet the needs of businesses during these financially challenging times. To keep updated on the range of support being offered by the NWDA go to www.nwda.co.uk/supportingbusiness

For more information on business support visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/northwest

For more information on Finance for Business please visit www.nwdabusinessfinance.co.uk

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Notes to Editors:

Between 2007 and 2013 the Northwest of England will receive a total of £521million (dependent on exchange rate) from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Managed by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), this funding will enhance the competitiveness of the region’s economy by supporting growth in employment and enterprise.

Key targets for the NWOP include:
• Creating 26,700 net additional jobs by 2015
• Generating £1.17bn additional annual GVA by 2015
• Supporting a 25% reduction in addition CO2 emissions generated by the ERDF Programme.

For further information please contact Neil Roscoe, Senior Press Officer on 01925 400232 or mobile 07980 713282 or neil.roscoe@nwda.co.uk

For urgent out of hours press enquiries please call 01925 400259.

For further information and to view previous press releases visit us at www.nwda.co.uk or www.erdfnw.co.uk

The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) leads the economic development and regeneration of England's Northwest and is responsible for:
• Supporting business growth and encouraging investment
• Matching skills provision to employer needs
• Creating the conditions for economic growth
• Connecting the region through effective transport and communication infrastructure
• Promoting the region’s outstanding quality of life