What is the North East Fund?

The North East Fund provides finance to start-up, small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) based in the North East of England, in the Local Authority areas of:

– Northumberland
– North Tyneside
– Newcastle
– South Tyneside
– Gateshead
– Sunderland
– County Durham

We can provide finance for businesses in most sectors, and for different amounts and purposes. For example, a loan of £20,000 to help fit-out premises and take on new staff, or an investment of £500,000 in your company’s shares to help fund the development and launch of a new product.

Our fund managers do not provide grants and do require loans to be repaid with interest, or that shares bought are sold for a profit once your company has grown and increased in value. But we are supportive investors and can provide finance to companies which have been unable to secure any, or enough, of the funding they need from banks or other lenders or private investors.

Many financial services are now delivered remotely, with automated decisions made based on credit ratings etc. This is not the case with The North East Fund or our fund managers, who are all based in the region. They will meet with you in person at your business premises to understand your company’s plans and requirements.

Should your company receive investment, it will benefit from:

– a direct relationship with our fund managers
– the ongoing ability to liaise with them on progress
– access their networks within industry, financial services and recruitment.

Over 400 companies have received investment from us since 2018 and we want to support many more, so please get in touch.

The North East Fund was established in 2018 with the support of the European Regional Development Fund and European Investment Bank. Our remit is to support the growth plans of SMEs in the North East.

That remains the goal of most of our investments, but we also address gaps in the private finance market by helping viable businesses continue to trade through turbulent market conditions. Our investments can provide working capital to, for example, resource new contracts or smooth cash flow.

The North East Fund will receive up to £66,500,000 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is the Managing Authority for the European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development. It does this by investing in projects that will support innovation and businesses, create jobs and local community regeneration.

For more information visit www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will lend up to £60,000,000 to the North East Fund programme. The European Investment Bank is the long-term lending institution of the European Union and is owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment to contribute towards EU policy goals.

For more information, visit: www.eib.org/about/index.htm.