Finance Yorkshire hits £100m investment milestone
Finance Yorkshire has reached its most significant milestone to date with £100 million now invested in Yorkshire and the Humber.
The Fund has made 792 investments in businesses, increasing overall turnover by £360 million and creating and safeguarding over 11,000 jobs. There are also further investments in the pipeline thanks to support from the Regional Growth Fund.
James Newman, Chairman of Finance Yorkshire, said the £100m milestone was a “tremendous achievement for everyone involved – the Board, the Executive Management team, the Fund Managers and all partners across Yorkshire”.
He added: “The Fund’s investments have made a significant impact on SMEs involved in a wide range of manufacturing and service sectors, in all parts of Yorkshire and the Humber.
“Many companies have found it difficult to access funding via traditional routes making our role invaluable. SMEs are the bedrock of our regional economy, and we will continue to support them. Through our consistent support we have helped SME’s to improve competitiveness and encouraged wealth creation in the region.”
One of the investments that enabled Finance Yorkshire to reach its funding milestone is set to fund the UK-wide expansion of a family business, which services and repairs industrial boilers and combustion equipment.
JBC, which has offices in Hull and Leeds, has received a £500,000 investment from Finance Yorkshire’s Equity Linked Fund, which includes profit participation. This means the company can receive funding without selling equity.
The business, formed in 1978 by John Bashall and now owned by his son Jamie, delivers a guaranteed, UK-wide, 24/7 call out service for clients across a range of industries. Clients include manufacturing giants Bentley Motors, Warburtons and Coors’ Brewery as well as many SME’s.
The business has a turnover of £6 million and employs around 70 people. Recent growth led to the opening of several regional offices, enabling JBC to offer an enhanced scope of engineering services.
Finance Yorkshire’s investment will be used to accelerate the nationwide expansion, invest in technology to drive efficiency and customer service and create new jobs.
The ‘Ecosafe’ digital control system, launched in 2010, will be developed to include additional features capable of controlling and monitoring boilerhouses.
Using a new remote real time system, JBC’s engineers can monitor and analyse boilers from any location. They can advise customers on how to reduce energy costs and increase efficiency by upgrading their equipment.
Jamie Bashall, Managing Director of JBC Industrial Services, said: “Our key sector is food manufacturing, where a reliable supply of hot water and steam is crucial for production. If they lose production, companies can lose huge amounts of money.
“We offer a free, 24/7 service across the UK. There is always an engineer available, no matter what time of day. This is one of our competitive advantages.
“We have identified gaps in the market for a remote monitoring and outsourcing solution and will be introducing some exciting new technology next year. We want to push for growth and develop our market share nationally.”
Alex McWhirter, Chief Executive of Finance Yorkshire said JBC was a great example of the type of business that Finance Yorkshire looks to invest in.
He said: “JBC is an established, successful and profitable business with exciting growth potential. We are looking forward to working alongside Jamie and his team as they roll out their expansion plans. JBC is well placed to join the hundreds of success stories in the Finance Yorkshire investment portfolio.”
Paul Gower, Investment Director at Finance Yorkshire, said: “We have been aware of JBC for many years and continue to be impressed by its growth, led by an experienced management team. The company is expanding its geographic reach and introducing innovative products to the market, so we predict a bright future.”
JBC Industrial Services was advised by Sarfraz Khan of Isaacs Corporate Solutions and Chris Schofield of Schofield Sweeney. Finance Yorkshire was advised by Ed Brown and Lynn Cantwell of Walker Morris.
Finance Yorkshire provides seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2m to help a range of small and medium sized businesses to meet their funding requirements for growth and development.
The project is supported financially by the European Union. Attracting investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of Europe’s support for the region’s economic development through the Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme, UK Government and the European Investment Bank. Finance Yorkshire is also supported by the Regional Growth Fund.
For more information about Finance Yorkshire, please visit www.finance-yorkshire.com or call 0300 030 6060.
Note: this news article is from Finance Yorkshire’s previous fund. Read more about Finance Yorkshire