The North West Fund for Development Capital, launched in 2010 using £185m of European cash and designed to provide financial assistance to help established businesses in the north west grow, has failed to make the investments that it had anticipated resulting in its funds being cut from £45m to £30m.
The £15m has been returned to the fund’s backers – the European Investment Bank and the European Regional Development Fund.
The fund was to provide investment in established businesses of between £100,000 and £2m but since launch it has only committed investments of £5m. The total value of the North West Fund is now £155m also covering the digital and creative, energy and environmental and biomedical sectors.
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