NORTHERN POWERHOUSE INVESTMENT FUND

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The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund is a collaboration between the British Business Bank and ten local enterprise partnerships in North West England, Yorkshire and the Humber and the Tees Valley. It consists of a GBP 432m fund-of-funds that aims to support a wide range of firms at different points in their development, from early-stage businesses seeking equity funding and microfinance to high-potential firms wanting to take advantage of growth opportunities. Under the terms of the UK SME Financial Instruments Programme approved by the EIB in 2015, the EIB would contribute for GBP 183.6m to the fund that also mobilises European Structural Investment Funds (ESIF), as well as other national grants and loans. The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund will be managed by British Business Financial Services Ltd (BBFSL), an entity fully owned and controlled by the British Business Bank (BBB), a government-owned financial institution set up to support economic growth by making finance markets work better for smaller businesses in the UK.