The New Coalfields Funds for St Helens
Posted by Carly Roper on Thursday 28 January 2010
The new Coalfields Growth Fund will offer £20m of Government and private investment over two years, to support new and growing small businesses in or near former coalfield areas.
The new Growth Fund is to be merged with the Coalfields Enterprise Fund, a venture capital scheme designed to encourage entrepreneurship in coalmining communities. In total the merged funds will provide approx £75m worth of additional private investment to former coalfields areas through to 2014.
St Helens has been identified as an eligible area to apply for funding. Companies at any stage in their development may apply for investment from the Funds, from start ups and early stage companies, to ongoing development capital and management buy-outs and buy-ins of more established businesses.
The Coalfields Funds are able to offer investment of up to £1 million in the form of equity and equity-related funding and are flexible in their approach. In addition to providing finance, the Funds also offer a broad range of support and guidance in assisting companies with their strategic, market and operational development, and in achieving their full potential.
All applications for funding that meet the Funds’ criteria for investment are welcomed, with each proposal assessed on its own commercial merits.
Eligible companies:
- are classed as SMEs (small to medium sized enterprise)
- are unquoted (meaning they are not listed on any form of exchange, for example, the London Stock Exchange or Alternative Investment Market)
- meet one or more of the following criteria with regard to their location:-
- have (or will have) their principal place of business within an eligible coalfield ward
- employ (or will employ) a significant proportion of their workforce from an eligible coalfield ward
- bring (or will bring) material economic benefit to an eligible coalfield ward
- do not operate in any of the excluded sectors
- are able to produce a commercial return to the Funds on their investment
For further information about eligibility please visit http://www.coalfields-enterprise-fund.co.uk/
For further support with applying for the fund please speak to Andrew Beswick at St Helens Chamber on 01744 742009, email andrew.beswick@sthelenschamber.com or visit http://www.coalfields-enterprise-fund.co.uk/
Commenting is now closed.