NPIF facilitates £1 billion of investment into Northern businesses

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) has facilitated the investment of more than £1 billion for businesses across the North of England since launching in 2017.

Funding has been delivered through £405 million of direct and £613 million private sector co-investment. Established by the British Business Bank, NPIF provides commercially focused finance through its microfinance, debt and equity finance funds which offer financing ranging from £25,000 to £2 million, specifically to help small and medium sized businesses secure the funding for growth and development.

Over the six years since its launch, the fund has supported 1,188 companies through 1,636 investments, creating over 7,900 jobs with Northern businesses. The North-west has been the largest recipient of the NPIF funding, and has secured over half a billion pounds of direct and private sector co-investment facilitated by the fund.

The £1 billion milestone follows the recent news that the British Business Bank will be launching a second fund, NPIF II: a £660 million investment fund to support the growth of small and medium-sized businesses across the North of England in early 2024. The current NPIF fund will continue to invest until the end of the year.

NPIF II is one of a series of new Nations and Regions Investment Funds being launched by the British Business Bank which will deliver a £1.6 billion commitment of new funding to drive sustainable economic growth.

Ken Cooper, Managing Director at British Business Bank, said:

“The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund has enabled over a thousand small businesses in both traditional and new industry sectors to benefit from access to finance. The Fund has made an incredible impact, not only through its own investment, but in its ability to attract extra private sector co-investment, boosting regional business and creating new opportunities for local people.

“We are seeing a growing catalogue of success stories, with businesses we invested in several years ago now realising their full potential and further increasing the financial and economic impact of NPIF funding.”