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British Business Bank and the Midlands Engine Investment Fund

30 January 2019

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund has, so far, supported local businesses with £25million of investment. This is great news for the region and Leicestershire Business Voice is delighted to support dynamic and ambitious businesses in our area and hope many more will make use of this exciting funding opportunity.

Earlier this week, the British Business Bank announced that the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) had reached its first milestone after supporting investment of over £25m into 100 of the region’s businesses.

Lewis Stringer from British Business Bank continues:

“It came as no surprise to me that £3m has already been invested in 13 businesses in Leicester and Leicestershire. Both the City and County remain centres for entrepreneurship and innovation in the region and, of course, Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) have always been strong advocates of the fund.

“MEIF, supported by the European Regional Development Fund, provides loans and equity investment, ranging from £25,000 to £2m, specifically to help small and medium-sized businesses secure the funding they need for growth and development. The fund seeks to address regional imbalances in finance available to Midlands businesses.

“The Bank has made a further commitment to address these regional imbalances by recently setting-up the UK Network (UKN) team.

“The aim of the UKN team is to help enhance business finance ecosystems across the UK so smaller businesses, wherever they are, can grow and prosper. It will also help the Bank to develop a deeper understanding of small business finance markets in all parts of the UK so that, ultimately, the Bank can improve its support to smaller businesses everywhere.

“As a Senior Manager in the team covering the East and South-East Midlands, I’m keen to hear from SMEs and intermediaries alike, who are either looking for funding or are working with smaller businesses to advise and support their growth plans in Leicester, Leicestershire and across the region.

“You can find out more about MEIF and the work of the Bank at Love Business Expo on 27th February at Holywell Park Conference Centre, Loughborough, where we have an exhibition stand and will be running a workshop session on the challenges to investment. You can also book a one-to-one with one of our four MEIF fund managers.”

For further information:

Lewis Stringer, Senior Manager, UK Network – East & South-East Midlands, British Business Bank

m: 07810 054221

e: [email protected]

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