Home > News & Events > April 2010 > News Article

Finance Yorkshire looks to a future of investment

Published: 8th April 2010

Large Picture

Rosie Winterton MP speaking at the Leeds event in front of 300 business owners and intermediaries

Finance Yorkshire has briefed more than one thousand business leaders and financial intermediaries across the region on how they can access the new £90m venture capital and loan fund.

Successful launches were held in front of 1,100 people in Leeds, Sheffield, Hull, York, Scarborough and Skipton throughout March.

The team including Yorkshire Forward delegates and Finance Yorkshire fund managers and board members who toured the region have received a host of positive feedback from intermediaries, such as corporate financiers, advisers, accountants and solicitors.

The Fund is planning to start investing in April 2010 and will provide seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2m to help small and medium businesses meet the gaps in funding they need for growth and development.

Jonathan Dixon, acting chief executive of Finance Yorkshire, said: “The events have provided great opportunities to have dialogue with financial intermediaries and local business leaders.

“Having face to face contact with the people we will work with over the next few years means we are already building knowledge of business trends in the area and of the SMEs we can invest in.

“This will make for a smoother and quicker process for all involved. We now look forward to immersing our time into investing our money in the region’s promising businesses.”

The project 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.

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

Latest News

Editor's Notes

About South Yorkshire Investment Fund

South Yorkshire Investment Fund  provided seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15k to £2.5m, specifically to help small and medium businesses meet the gaps in funding they need for growth and development.

Created as part of the Objective 1 programme, the Fund is a private and public sector business finance provider. The European Regional Development Fund and Yorkshire Forward are investors in the Fund.

South Yorkshire Investment Fund also provided access to Business Angel investments from the Yorkshire Association of Business Angels and Microloans through BiG Business Loan Fund and Donbac Microloan Fund.

Finance Yorkshire has now taken on responsibility for providing gap finance in Yorkshire and the Humber.
http://www.finance-yorkshire.com

For further details please contact Suzanne Tinkler,  on 0845 649 0000.

South Yorkshire Investment Fund Ltd is a company limited by guarantee (Registered No 3936065). South Yorkshire Investment Fund comprises three sub funds, the South Yorkshire Investment Capital Fund, the South Yorkshire Investment Development Fund, which are each managed by YFM Venture Finance Limited, and the South Yorkshire Investment Small Business Fund, which is managed by Finance South Yorkshire Ltd. YFM Venture Finance Limited (Tel 0113 294 5000) and Finance South Yorkshire Ltd (Tel 01709 386 377) are each authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. South Yorkshire Investment Fund also provides a number of services, which are not regulated by The Financial Services Authority. These include the pilot Seedcorn Fund, BiG Business Loan Fund, Mentorbank and access to the Donbac Microloan Fund. BiG Business Loan Fund is managed by Donbac Ltd (company registration No. 01925556) and Key Fund Yorkshire Ltd (Tel 0114 242 8900).