SME finance specialist hits £275 million investment in Northern businesses

SME finance specialist, FW Capital, has announced its investment has totalled of £275 million of funding into businesses across Northern England.

The investment by the firm is understood to have created and safeguarded 12,000 jobs across the region, and had an overall funding impact of over £600 million, thanks to co-investment of £350 million from the private sector. Since the launch of its funds in 2010, FW Capital has now supported over 730 SMEs with their growth plans in Northern England.

Joanne Whitfield, Fund Director at FW Capital, said:

“Reaching £275m of funding is a fantastic milestone and demonstrates our commitment to helping local businesses reach their potential. The jobs created because of this investment are supporting local communities and are having a significant impact on the local economy.  We’re seeing great opportunities across the North East, with a hub of activity across the energy, manufacturing and property development sectors.  We’re proud to work with innovative businesses and stimulate growth using NPIF-FW Capital Debt Finance, the North East Commercial Property Investment Fund and the North East Property Fund. Each fund delivers a valuable boost to the future of our economy, and I’d encourage businesses to talk to us about how we can help them.”

Gary Guest, Fund Director at FW Capital, said:

“We are so proud of how our investment is helping businesses to grow.  We’re here to help businesses that show real potential, providing valuable support and funding. External investment can help to strengthen a business and in the North West our funding continues to play an important role in helping ambitious businesses to expand. Our milestone investment has fuelled significant business growth and the jobs created is supporting local communities and having a positive impact on the local economy.  I’d encourage businesses to talk to us about how we can help them.”

FW Capital, a subsidiary of the Development Bank of Wales, has four funds under management and a further two delivered funds: these include the Tees Valley Catalyst Fund, the North East Property Fund, the North East Commercial Property Investment Fund and Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund – FW Capital Debt Finance. The completed funds are the North East Growth Plus Fund and North West Funds for Loans Plus.  

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.