North’s manufacturing and high-tech sectors dominate as NPIF reaches £100m

Jake Berry & Grant Peggie

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) is marking another milestone as it celebrates backing £100 million of investment across the Northern Powerhouse region.

The Fund has directly invested £60 million in small and medium sized companies since its launch, in deals that have attracted an additional £40 million of investment from the private sector.

Investments from the fund cover a broad range of business types with a strong appetite evidenced from manufacturing and high-tech businesses with a total of £11 million and £15 million invested in these sectors respectively.

To date, NPIF has made over 300 investments in small growing businesses across the 10 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) areas it operates in. Examples of recent deals include Lancashire-based Extreme Low Energy, which received £750,000 to double its head count and expand its range of products and a £500,000 investment into technology company PureClarity allowing the business to improve its software product offering and create eight new jobs at its premises in York.

Northern Powerhouse Minister, Jake Berry MP, said:“The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund has achieved truly remarkable things in a very short space of time. As we reach the £100m milestone, we’re hearing from Northern innovators, creators and entrepreneurs who have used these investments to create jobs, up-skill their workforces and rapidly expand their businesses. It’s testament to what can be achieved when the Government works hand-in-hand with the private and public sectors to make the Northern Powerhouse one of the most business-friendly regions in the UK.”

Ken Cooper, Managing Director at British Business Bank, said: “This is a great milestone for the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund which builds upon a strong first year of operation.  This progress reflects our belief that the North, with its strong manufacturing heritage and innovative high-tech sectors, offers great opportunities for investment.  There is a wealth of small business talent in the region that is leading the way in generating the Northern Powerhouse.

“The British Business Bank is committed to increasing the scope and availability of investment across the UK regions and we’re pleased to see entrepreneurs willing to take advantage of the opportunities that this type of funding brings.”

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. 

For more information about Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, please visit www.npif.co.uk