£5m funding boost for North West SME sector
An additional £5m of funding from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) has been handed to GC Business Finance and MSIF.
This will be used to continue delivering loans from the NPIF-BFS & MSIF Microfinance Fund to small firms across the North West.
The NPIF-BFS & MSIF Microfinance Fund provides loans of between £25,000 and £100,000 to businesses that have been unable to obtain some, or all, of the finance they need from traditional lenders.
Eligible businesses can use the loans for a wide range of growth and development purposes including filling gaps in working capital, funding expansion projects, leasing commercial premises and asset acquisitions.
Businesses can apply for microfinance loans over terms of up to five years.
As part of the Growth Company, GC Business Finance will also offer an inclusive package of wider support services to SMEs alongside the loans, helping entrepreneurs to start or grow their businesses.
Meanwhile Liverpool-based MSIF regularly refers businesses into Growth Platform and the Local Growth Hubs to access local business support.
To date, GC Business Finance and MSIF have invested £10m from NPIF into more than 150 businesses across Cumbria, Lancashire, Liverpool, Cheshire & Warrington and Greater Manchester.
This additional £5m of funding for lending, follows the recent accreditation to the Government-backed Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS), which aims to help businesses access finance as they recover and grow following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Matt Robinson, head of lending at GC Business Finance, said:
“NPIF funding has had a significant positive impact on the Northern economy before and during the pandemic, so we are proud to be delivering £5m of new funding from NPIF to SME businesses across the North West.”
Sue Chambers, investment manager at MSIF, said:
“NPIF funding continues to provide vital growth capital to those businesses unable to access finance from more conventional sources. We welcome the opportunity to talk to any business that feels it may benefit from such support.”
Sean Hutchinson, British Business Bank, said:
“GC Business Finance and MSIF have played a key role in the successful delivery of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund to date, and we congratulate them on securing this latest round of additional funding.
Access to finance is fundamental to ambitious businesses in the North West, and we look forward to expanding the NPIF portfolio in partnership with GC Business Finance and MSIF.”
If you're interested in accessing the NPIF Microfinance Fund for your business you can find out more and contact us here.
Original Article via The Business Desk - https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/northwest/news/2094177-5m-funding-fillip-for-north-west-sme-sector