Finance conferences showcase funding available for growth

26th April 2013

Funding is still available for growth that was the key message to companies at a series of finance conferences across the region.

More than 500 business leaders from Yorkshire and the Humber attended the Finance Yorkshire organised events in Leeds, York, Hull and Sheffield. The events showcased investee businesses, gave the opportunity for discussion of investment opportunities across the region and provided vital information on each of the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP). Since being launched in August 2010, Finance Yorkshire has made more than 350 investments, with a total value of £41million, in businesses across Yorkshire, the Humber and north and north east Lincolnshire. This has safeguarded and created 6,200 jobs and generated a private sector leverage of £79million. Finance Yorkshire, chief executive Alex McWhirter, said: -The roadshows illustrated through case studies that there is funding available for viable businesses to develop growth plans. Plenty has been achieved so far, but there is still a lot of hard work ahead. -This year attendees had the chance to learn about the economic strategies from their respective LEPs. Working together, Finance Yorkshire and the LEPs can improve prosperity and generate employment throughout the region. -These annual events are always popular with financial intermediaries and we look forward to next year where we will have even more investee companies report their successes. Each event provided attendees with area specific information on accessing finance and allowed local businesses, which have had Finance Yorkshire investment, to report their development and the benefits of the funding. Speakers included officials from Finance Yorkshire, the LEPs and local businesses, including: Leeds - Speakers included Neil McLean, outgoing Chairman of the Leeds City Region LEP, Finance Yorkshire Chief Executive Alex McWhirter and James Newman Chairman of Finance Yorkshire. - The investee companies showcased included Xeros, The Leeds Brewery and The Black Hole, with each outlining their experiences of the different Finance Yorkshire funds. Hull - Speakers included James Trowsdale, Investment Manager from the Humber LEP, Ian Kelly, Finance Yorkshire Director and Alex McWhirter, Finance Yorkshire Chief Executive. - Several local companies spoke of their Finance Yorkshire experiences including Tangentix, The Beautiful Meme and Turbine Efficiency. York - Speakers included James Farrar, Chief Operating Officer at the York LEP, Alex McWhirter Finance Yorkshire Chief Executive and John Watson Finance Yorkshire Director. - The local investee companies showcased included Fullsun, Vizzihomes and Aerocover, with each outlining their experiences of the different Finance Yorkshire funds. Sheffield - Speakers included Sheffield City Region LEP Board member David Grey MBE, Alex McWhirter Chief Executive of Finance Yorkshire and Tony Parsons, Deputy Chairman of Finance Yorkshire. - The local investee companies showcased included Faradion, ECUS and GSE Research, with each outlining their experiences of the different Finance Yorkshire funds. Finance Yorkshire provide seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2million, specifically to help small and medium sized businesses meet the gaps in the market for the funding they need for growth and development. It 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, £15million from Yorkshire Forward's Single Programme, and £45million match funding from the European Investment Bank.