British Business Bank £200 million Regional Fund Plan

An investment of £200 million has been announced to support the growth of small and medium-sized businesses in the South West region of the UK including Bristol, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset, and Wiltshire.

This fund is a great step to reduce the existing funding gap in the UK outside of London.

The British Business Bank aims for the financial and fundraising landscape to work more effectively and be better suited for small and medium-sized businesses across the UK and wants to boost the growth of smaller companies.

The investment fund will offer different finance options ranging from loans from £25,000 to £2 million and up to £5 million in equity investment.‘The design of the South West Investment Funds builds on the success of our other regional funds’.

‘It will increase the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for smaller businesses in the region, providing finance for firms that might otherwise not receive investment and helping to break down barriers in access to finance’.

‘The levels of private debt lending equity investment in the South West are significantly below what we could expect given the region’s share of the UK’s smaller business population’.

‘That’s something the new fund will tackle by backing ambitious businesses to drive sustainable economic growth’, stated Ken Cooper, managing director of venture solutions, at the British Business Bank.

The South West funds has been established after the known success of other regional investment funds like the Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (CIoSIF), the Midlands Engine (MEIF) and the Northern Powerhouse (NPIF) Investment Funds.

The British Business Bank has already invested more than £562 million across various funds since the establishment of the forementioned funds.

Moreover, the bank supported 1,715 smaller businesses and their investments have attracted more than £849 million in additional private sector co-investment.

The government-owned bank is going to have a real impact on the development of the regional financial market.

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