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Penrith based Enterprise Answers has been asked to act as part of the national support package for companies affected by the collapse of construction giant Carillion.

Secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy Greg Clark MP has confirmed that the government is making £100m available to help ease the situation and has appointed the British Business Bank to work alongside Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) providers to support supply chain companies who may be struggling to pay bills and keep staff.

As an EFG accredited lender, Enterprise Answers will help those businesses affected to unlock cash from the £100m fund as a temporary measure.

Grahame Latus, Chief Executive of Enterprise Answers said: “Working closely with the British Business Bank, we aim to help many of those companies facing an uncertain future following the collapse of Carillion.

“We are already prepared to assist with flexible financing options and welcome this endorsement by the government of our capability to assist in the fallout from the liquidation of Carillion. It’s encouraging to know that Enterprise Answers is seen as a local solution to the potential financial issues which may arise for some of the supply chain businesses affected.”

We are proud to announce our sponsorship of the Cumbria Family Business Awards for the second year running! Alongside two of the county’s leading accountancy firms, Armstrong Watson and Lamont Pridmore, Enterprise Answers is one of three main sponsors helping to support an event which showcases some of Cumbria’s best family businesses.

We are delighted to announce that we will be sponsoring the ‘Best New Business’ category at the 2017 In-Cumbria Business Awards. The awards themselves are a reflection of the amazing diversity of entrepreneurial skills, experience and knowledge which can be found amongst many businesses and individuals across the county.

Cumbrian businesses should stop worrying about Brexit and continue investing for long term growth according to the boss of a not-for profit company that provides loans to Cumbrian firms rejected by the banks.

The Three Hares, Sedbergh

The Three Hares symbol represents their style of cooking, influenced by James’ upbringing in the local area involved with Wild Foods and Game, and heavily influenced by Nina’s background of growing up in Germany with Japanese parents. When James & Nina met, they originally set up their business as The Moocher, selling their own style of street food in the bustling city of Manchester before deciding they wanted somewhere a little more static. Opting to take on a dated café in Sedbergh with finance from Enterprise Answers, presented the couple with an opportunity to demonstrate their talents further, enabling James to return to his family roots and unleashing Nina’s culinary expertise on what was otherwise a quiet market town.

Within months, The Three Hares had established an unbelievable reputation for the quality of its foods, but more notably for the menu which uses ‘real’ local produce sourcing wild hare, rabbit, game, deer and plants, creating interesting dishes which have surely tickled the taste buds like they have never been tickled before. Now having won acclaim with a listing in the Waitrose 2017 Good Food Guide, The Three Hares is sure to experience an even greater volume of custom. Sedbergh was a quiet market town!

https://threeharescafe.co.uk/

Small and medium sized companies across Cumbria, North Lancashire and the North East can now apply for loans to invest in their business growth, thanks to Enterprise Answers.

This fund is launching in Spring 2017 in memory of Duncan Lennard. It’s purpose is to invest in new companies that have good products but lack the capital to build, develop and expand.

Duncan Lennard died in April 2015 at the young age of 52. He first visited the Lake District with the Scouts in his teenage years, and spent many subsequent holidays there with friends and his family. The Lakes became a very special place for Duncan and his family, where they have a base from which to remember their many happy times.

Duncan trained as an engineer, and joined Unilever as a graduate management trainee. He ran manufacturing plants for Lever Brothers, including factories all across the Middle East.

He also worked for Brakes, the food service company, where he ran the logistics business, and later led the sales to Corporate customers.

He loved new ideas, innovation and making products. He admired entrepreneurs, and would have loved to have started his own company. He ran a new venture part way through his career, and would surely have spent the latter part of his career either supporting or leading a small business.

A year after his passing, his personal investment, as part of the leadership team at Brakes materialised, and this fund is made possible by some of that reward.

Sue Jenkins, the wife of Duncan has in his honour, set up this fund to preserve his memory and hopefully make a long term impact in the Lake District, where she and her two daughters continue to spend time.

At Enterprise Answers, we warmly welcome this rare but generous gesture to create a private fund to enable entrepreneurs to unleash their creativity and realise their potential. We are pleased to support Sue Jenkins with raising awareness of the Duncan Lennard Investment Fund.

To view the full details of the fund and how to apply, please click on the link below.

Download

Join us to hear more about the £400m of Finance Available for Small and Medium Businesses in the North

The British Business Bank together with the Local Enterprise Partnerships is holding a series of regional briefing events to tell local partners about the new £400m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) and how to access it.

An event will take place in each of the 10 Local Enterprise Partnership areas within the NPIF region between the 1st and 17th March 2017. The events will brief business advisers and the local business community on the new funding opportunities available and on how businesses can access the funds.

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, which has been established in conjunction with the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the UK Government will provide small and medium businesses with increased flexibility in the types of funding available, as well as boosting investment levels in the North.

For more information on the opportunities offered by the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, download our Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund – Spotlight Report

Click here to book a place at this event: Cumbria Briefing Event

Penrith based Enterprise Answers has been asked to act as part of the national support package for companies affected by the collapse of construction giant Carillion.

The British Business Bank has launched its £400m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF), aimed at boosting the North of England’s economy and helping the region’s businesses realise their growth potential.

The British Business Bank’s recent Spotlight: The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund publication reported that the North contributes £350bn per year in GDP – close to one fifth of the UK economy. The new fund aims to build on this foundation by providing smaller businesses with increased choice of funding and producing greater levels of investment across the Northern Powerhouse region.

Based in Sheffield, the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund will work with 10 Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), combined authorities and Growth Hubs, as well as local accountants, fund managers and banks, to provide a mixture of debt and equity capital to northern-based SMEs at all stages of their development. NPIF will provide funding to fund managers who will offer Microfinance (£25,000 – £100,000), Business Loans (£100,000 – £750,000) and Equity Finance (up to £2m).

The fund managers appointed to manage the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund are:

Microfinance: Business Finance Solutions & MSIF, Finance for Enterprise & Business Enterprise Finance
Business Loans: FW Capital and Enterprise Ventures
Equity Finance: Maven Capital Partners and Enterprise Ventures
Initially announced in November 2015, NPIF combines capital allocated to the 10 LEPs in the North West, Yorkshire and Humber and the Tees Valley by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB), funding from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and an additional loan from British Business Finance Limited, a British Business Bank group company.

Keith Morgan, CEO at British Business Bank, said: “The North of England has a long and proud history of driving global innovation and economic progress. The region has more high-growth businesses than London and, at close to one fifth of UK GDP, is larger than the economies of Greece, Denmark, Austria and Belgium.

“The region has enormous untapped economic potential that can be realised by improved funding options and opportunities. The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund represents a co-ordinated policy approach to help realise this potential across the North.”

Andrew Percy, Northern Powerhouse Minister, said: “Our efforts to build the Northern Powerhouse are delivering real results for local people, with over one million businesses involved, foreign direct investment up by a quarter and 187,000 jobs created in the past year alone. This dedicated £400m will help us go even further, supporting smaller businesses across the region to reach their full potential and helping to create an economy that works for everyone.”

Roger Marsh, OBE Chair of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Chair of the NPIF Strategic Oversight Board, said: “The North already boasts a diverse, dynamic and thriving economy with enormous untapped potential that, when realised, will bring huge economic benefits to the region and the UK’s competitiveness.

“This increased investment will complement the business support activity already delivering jobs and growth in the region. It offers SMEs increased flexibility in the funding available and will help boost business growth, create more high quality jobs and increase innovation.”

Jonathan Taylor, European Investment Bank Vice President, said: “The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund will unlock the unparalleled innovation, talent and entrepreneurial spirit of the North and build on the world class strengths of the region. The European Investment Bank is pleased to provide more than £180m for this exciting new initiative as part of our commitment to support investment by small business across Europe.”

This comes just weeks after the launch of the Industrial Strategy Green Paper which outlined the Government’s ambitious plans to build on the UK’s strengths and create an economy that works for everyone: delivering high-skilled, well-paid jobs and creating the conditions for competitive, world-leading businesses to prosper and grow right across the UK.

The project is supported financially by the European Union. Attracting investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.

For more information about Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, please visit www.npif.co.uk.