Business News

NEW GROWTH FUND OPENS FOR BUSINESS

A new Business Growth Fund (BGF) has been launched to help Britain's smaller and medium sized businesses with an annual turnover of around £10 million to £100 million.

The independent fund of up to £2.5 billion is backed by five of the UK's main banking groups – Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered – working in collaboration with the British Bankers' Association.

Speaking to mark the launch of the fund on 19 May, Business Secretary Vince Cable said: 'The Business Growth Fund is ready to make substantial equity investments into ambitious mid-cap British companies who are set to create the business success stories of the coming years.'

The BGF will invest sums of between £2 million and £10 million approximately per business in return for a minimum ten per cent equity stake and a seat on the board for a BGF director. The fund will provide long-term equity investment for those growing companies which today do not have access to this source of capital.

Dr. Cable added: "Good investing requires local connections to find and assess opportunities, so for the fund to have a presence outside London – in both Birmingham and Edinburgh – is particularly heartening. British businesses must have access to the growth capital they need, wherever they are based."

LINK: Business Growth Fund