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 supporting a leading Yorkshire online printing and digital marketing business to improve its digital offer to clients.
Northend Creative Print Solutions, based in Sheffield, is investing a total £300,000 in the construction of a new digital press room and the purchase of a larger digital printing press.
A £100,000 Business Loan from Finance Yorkshire is supporting the digital improvement project which will see Northend continue to supply the highest quality products to its portfolio of large national clients.
Northend was established more than 125 years ago and employs almost 50 people at its premises in Clyde Road, Sheffield. The business provides online services which result in digital or traditional printed products including leaflets, books and manuals.
Northend’s digital output accounts for more than 50 per cent of the business and is growing. Managing Director Nigel Stubley said: “Customers now want to deliver much more personalised, one-to-one marketing messages. We want to enhance our digital kit to add to our firepower because technology is changing all the time and we need to be proactive and keep up with digital developments.”
Nigel added: “Finance Yorkshire has supported us in the past and are there for SME businesses just like us.”
Alex McWhirter, Chief Executive of Finance Yorkshire said Northend was a great example of the type of business that Finance Yorkshire looks to invest in.
He said: “Northend has grown to become an established, successful and profitable business. The company continues to evolve and innovate with our continued support – just one of the many hundreds of success stories in the Finance Yorkshire investment portfolio.”
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 and attracts 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