British Business Bank backs new £150m Northern scale-up fund

The British Business Bank is set to commit up to £150m to a new scale-up fund targeting innovative, high-growth businesses across the North of England.

The proposed Northern scale-up fund will provide investments of between £5m and £15m to companies seeking larger amounts of capital to accelerate their growth and expansion.

It is also intended to attract additional private capital into high-growth Northern businesses, helping address regional disparities in access to equity finance.

The fund is expected to support university spinouts and other innovative companies across an area stretching from Liverpool and Manchester to Bradford, Leeds, Sheffield, York, Hull and Newcastle.

Its investment strategy will reflect areas of sector strength across the North, including creative industries, clean energy, space and technology, with a focus on businesses demonstrating the potential to scale and contribute to regional economic growth.

The new vehicle will complement the British Business Bank’s existing programmes, including the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II) and Regional Angels Programme.

NPIF II provides finance of up to £5m to smaller businesses, while the proposed scale-up fund will target companies requiring larger investments as they progress to the next stage of growth.

Leandros Kalisperas, Chief Investment Officer at the British Business Bank, said:

“This new Northern scale-up fund reflects the Bank’s commitment to addressing regional equity gaps and helping ambitious, innovative businesses in the North of England to have the same opportunity to access the capital they need to grow and thrive as other parts of the UK.

“The proposed fund would provide an important new source of scale-up capital building on the success of our Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II, which continues to deliver support to smaller businesses of up to £5m of capital.”

The Government said the £150m commitment is intended to leverage additional private investment behind some of the North of England’s most innovative and fastest-growing companies.