Member Article

BGF pledge to invest £200m in 2013

The Business Growth Fund (BGF) plans to invest as much as £200m in the next 12 months, following 21 successful funding projects in 2012.

Last year £18.12m was pumped into Northern businesses in Manchester, Leeds and County Durham, and BGF has plans to invest a further £50m in the North this year.

BGF was created to help fast-growing SMEs with no other access to finance, and invests between £2m and £10m in each business for a minimum 10% equity stake and a seat on the company’s board.

The fund currently supports more than 1,000 people in their jobs and hopes to create a further 600 positions from investments made in the past 12 months.

Andy Gregory, BGF’s Northern regional director, commented: “2012 was a good year for BGF – our first full year of operation.

“During 2012, we invested approximately £120m of growth capital in 21 great businesses, significantly expanding the level of investment going into the UK SME sector and highlighting that, despite challenging economic conditions, good businesses can prosper.

“Across the UK we have invested in companies employing from 7 to over 600 people and in 13 different sectors – from healthcare to oil & gas services, and from leisure & hospitality to IT & telecoms.

“Our combined businesses have a turnover of over £300m – an indicator of just how important these companies are to the engine of the UK economy.”

“Our own commissioned research indicates that there are in the region of 4,000 British companies with more than ten employees, and a turnover of between £2.5m and £100m, that are growing at ten per cent or more year- on-year.

“Around 15% of these businesses are based in the North of England. We need to see these numbers increase.

“We are working hard to inspire more entrepreneurs in this region and look forward to making a real difference to the local community of small and mid-sized companies that need guidance and support, as much as funding, to achieve growth in 2013.

“We remain very ambitious for the year ahead. We see the potential to invest up to £50m in the North of England this year. This is a real cause for confidence.

“We see our role as providing a catalyst for growth in the economy, not only for the companies that we back, but also for the wider business community within which they operate.

“In addition to increased investment in UK entrepreneurs, 2013 will see BGF’s own business grow significantly. This will include recruiting talented people to our strong regional teams.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .