Investment Boost Business across Yorkshire

More than £68 million has been invested in SMEs by regional funding body Finance Yorkshire, new figures reveal.

The amount invested to date equates to a total of 545 investments in small and medium-sized enterprises operating across Yorkshire, Humber, North and North East Lincolnshire. The funds are enabling these businesses to grow, create jobs and exploit new market opportunities.

Looking ahead, Finance Yorkshire is now working with its partners – including the region’s Local Enterprise Partnerships – to support the region’s SME’s and their growth plans.

Finance Yorkshire provides seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2m to help SMEs meet their funding requirements for growth and development.

The new figures show Finance Yorkshire’s investments have:

• created 2,782 jobs
• safeguarded 3,826 jobs
• created 32 new businesses and helped a further 326
• generated £84m in increased turnover
• leveraged £109m from the private sector

Alex McWhirter, Chief Executive of Finance Yorkshire, said: “These figures are a strong demonstration of the impact and value that we bring to SMEs across the Yorkshire region. In what has been a difficult couple of years, our investments have helped companies grow and maintain their competitive edge, increasing turnover, creating much-needed jobs and fuelling the regional economy.

“I’m confident our investments across a range of sectors will continue in the coming months, particularly with the upturn in the economy and a strong desire among SMEs to seek finance for growth.”

Hull-based Envirodoor secured a £600,000 equity investment from Finance Yorkshire to achieve its ambitious growth plans.

Managing Director Mark de-Villamar Roberts said: “The investment from Finance Yorkshire has provided the support we needed not only to maintain our position as a key player in the European specialist door market, but to grow.

“The investment will be used to support the company’s marketing, recruitment and research and development programmes.”

Meanwhile, Rosehill Polymers in Sowerby Bridge is using a £250,000 business loan from Finance Yorkshire to boost its expansion plans. The funding has been used to assist with the purchase of new plant and machinery to support the development of a new production line at its head office.

Dr Alex Celik, Group Managing Director at Rosehill Polymers, said: “Our aim is to increase sales across all sectors, especially in the offshore energy, rail and highways market where we have witnessed the most significant growth.

“Finance Yorkshire has enabled us to start our exciting expansion project and has provided the catalyst for our bigger plan, which we hope to be an overall £4m investment in our company.”

Finance Yorkshire is supported financially by the European Union. It has attracted £30million 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, £15million from UK Government and £45million match funding from the European Investment Bank.

For more information about Finance Yorkshire, please visit www.finance-yorkshire.com or call 0845 649 0000.

Note: this news article is from Finance Yorkshire’s previous fund. Read more about Finance Yorkshire