£200m Fund Set to Help Growing Small Businesses in South West
The South West Investment Fund (SWIF) – a government-backed fund which was unveiled in July 2023 by the British Bank – will bring much needed extra capital into the region. SWIF is the first in a series of six new Nations and Regions Investment Funds and it offers a range of commercial finance options with loans from £25,000 to £2m and equity investment up to £5m. It is designed to increase the supply of early-stage finance for new and growing smaller businesses and has already attracted interest from over 350 businesses across the South West. For more details, please read the news article below which was issued by Insider News Media today.
Roger Mundy, Managing Director, Beardsley Theobalds, 7th August 2023
Hundreds of firms show interest in £200m SWIF
More than 350 businesses from across the South West have expressed their interest in the £200m South West Investment Fund (SWIF).
The government-backed fund, which was unveiled last month by the British Business Bank, is designed to increase the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for new and growing smaller businesses across the region.
It operates throughout the South West, encompassing Bristol, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset, and Wiltshire.
Louis Taylor, chief executive of the British Business Bank, said: "The response to the launch of the South West Investment Fund has been hugely encouraging and has come from all across the region.
"The level of enquiries our fund managers have already received shows there is demand from growing businesses across the South West for more finance options at every business stage, and that's exactly what the fund will provide."
Christine Alison, chair of the South West Investment Group and a governor of Plymouth University, added: "The South West Investment Fund is going to bring much needed additional capital into the region. It can change the way we do business in the South West and it can help grow a financial ecosystem that is more appropriate to the needs of the SMEs that we have in the region."
Katherine Bennett, chair of the Western Gateway, said: "This £200m investment fund for the South West will be hugely helpful.
"We speak to businesses who really don't know where to go for help and support, so the British Business Bank, with its national heft, its website and government support, is a really important partner here in the Western Gateway area and beyond, so businesses can know where to go for support."
SWIF is managed by a team of four fund managers that have been appointed by the British Business Bank including SWIG Finance, FW Capital, Maven and the FSE Group.
