£90m bid to kickstart South Yorkshire regeneration

A NEW £90 million venture capital and loan fund aimed at boosting business growth in Rotherham has been launched today.

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, advisers, accountants and solicitors, were at the launch of Finance Yorkshire at the Cutlers' Hall in Sheffield.

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.”

Finance Yorkshire can provide seedcorn investment for start-ups and loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2 million, 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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For more information about Finance Yorkshire, visit www.finance-yorkshire.com  or ring 0845 649 0000.