£150 million milestone for Midlands business investment fund

The fund has made 702 investments in 500 businesses located across both the West and East Midlands and helped create more than 1,400 jobs.

An additional £251m of private sector co-investment has also been leveraged as a result of the MEIF’s support.

The fund was launched by the British Business Bank with Local Enterprise Partnerships, the Midlands Engine and the UK Government with the aim of improving the finance landscape for smaller businesses in the Midlands.

Last year an additional £50m was committed to the current MEIF programme, bringing the total investment to £300m.

The sector that has benefitted the most from the MEIF has been advanced manufacturing, with 154 investments totalling £32.1m. Other key areas that received funding were life sciences and medical technologies, logistics and business transitioning to a low-carbon economy.

One of the latest MEIF investments was in Halesowen-based infrared heating manufacturer, Jigsaw, with a £250,000 investment to scale up its operations – creating 20 new jobs in the process.

Patrick Magee, chief commercial officer at the British Business Bank, said: “Through the Midlands Engine Investment Fund, we continue to provide access to finance, which is key to providing smaller businesses with the opportunity to achieve their true growth potential.

“By providing the necessary funds for investing in jobs, innovation and low-carbon initiatives, the fund has been able to support SMEs and boost the region’s economy.

"Highlighting this milestone, as we also look to our next generation Investment Fund, we hope to build on successes to date from the MEIF as we continue to support and strengthen the levelling up agenda across the Midlands region.”

Minister for Levelling Up, Neil O’Brien, said: "The Midlands Engine has reached a significant milestone today, with £150 million from its investment fund poured into local companies to help them grow and create the jobs the region needs.

“We are committed to levelling up towns and cities across the Midlands and have now published our Levelling Up White paper which outlines our plan for driving growth, improving living conditions and helping communities build back better from the pandemic.”

Jon Corbett, chairman of the Strategic Oversight Board, said: “Since launching in 2017, the fund has fostered a real sense of regional collaboration through our seven fund managers, network of local enterprise partnerships, intermediaries and other partners.

“This has been pivotal to the £150m delivered to date and will continue to play a role into the future, with an additional £400m committed to a future fund, as the MEIF transforms the finance landscape for small businesses across the Midlands.”

Last year, the MEIF was granted an additional £400m to the future fund – bringing the total for investment into the region to £700m.

Investments from the MEIF are made by seven fund managers working across the West Midlands and East and South East Midlands, and are supported by a network of local enterprise partnerships. The fund offers debt and equity investment between £25,000 to £2m.

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union, using funding from the European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.