GC Business Finance and MSIF secure £5m funding from NPIF
GC Business Finance and MSIF have secured £5m in additional funding from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) to continue delivering loans from the NPIF – BFS & MSIF Microfinance Fund across the North West.
The NPIF – BFS & MSIF Microfinance Fund provides loans of between £25,000 and £100,000 to businesses located in the North West of England 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 5 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 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.
GC Business Finance and MSIF look forward to supporting more growing businesses with the increased funding now available to the end of 2023.
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.
“Economic uncertainty is continuing to affect SMEs across the region, so we’d encourage any eligible business to take advantage of the NPIF – BFS & MSIF Microfinance Fund to create and safeguard jobs and continue to recover and grow their business.”
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 are delighted to have the opportunity to extend the current support available until the end of 2023, as the economy continues to recover from the pandemic. 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 – delivering new opportunities across the region.
The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project (NPIF) is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.
