A NEW £90 million venture capital and loan fund which will boost business growth in Yorkshire and the Humber has been launched in Sheffield this week.
Finance Yorkshire, supported by Yorkshire Forward, will invest in businesses across the region and is set to complete a four-year investment phase by 2014.
More than 300 local business leaders and intermediaries, including corporate financiers, adv
isers, accountants and solicitors, were at the launch of Finance Yorkshire at the Cutlers' Hall.
Finance Yorkshire builds on the success of the now fully invested Partnership Investment Finance (PIF), which invested £42 million for qualifying businesses, and South Yorkshire Investment Fund (SYIF), which invested £60 million in South Yorkshire.
James Newman master cutler and chairman of Finance Yorkshire said: "Approximately 98 per cent of companies are small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). That figure really brought home to me how important this fund is to the economy. That is what Finance Yorkshire is here to do, support SMEs.
"Every company, especially a new one, needs to have a mission and a vision. Our mission is to provide access to funds for SMEs who are short of finance. If we are able to do this, and stimulate demand – then we can stimulate the region's economy in turn and build a permanent fund for Yorkshire and the Humber."
Alex McWhirter, assistant director for business at Yorkshire Forward, said: "Finance Yorkshire will be key to supporting Yorkshire and Humber's small and medium-sized businesses to grow and prosper and will enable them to leverage significant investment into the region over the next four years; creating thousands of jobs along the way.
"This is a fund for the whole of the region and it will play a critical part in helping Yorkshire and Humber's economic recovery over the coming months and years."
Finance Yorkshire can provide seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2m, specifically to help small and medium businesses meet the gaps in funding they need for growth and development.
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.
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