Midlands Engine invests more than £17m into region’s businesses

The British Business Bank’s Midlands Engine Investment Fund has committed more than £17 million in the Midlands in its first nine months, leveraging a further £10 million from the private sector to help the region’s small and medium-sized businesses to start up, scale up or stay ahead.

A total of 70 businesses have received support through the Midlands Engine Investment Fund II since its launch in February. The £400 fund covers the whole of the Midlands and provides debt finance from £25,000 to £2 million and equity investment up to £5 million to help small and medium sized businesses.

Five dedicated fund managers – First Enterprise - Enterprise Loans, BCRS Business Loans, Mercia Ventures, Frontier Development Capital (FDC), and Maven Capital Partners – manage separate parts of the £400m fund.

Jody Tableporter, Director UK & Regional Funds, British Business Bank, said: “This demand from businesses across very different sectors, from manufacturing and technology to retail, logistics and renewable energy, showing the incredible diversity of the business base we have here in the Midlands.

“The Midlands Engine Investment Fund has also acted as a catalyst for private sector investment - helping to secure a further £10 million, bringing the total investment into Midlands businesses to £27 million. It is clear that this is just the beginning for the fund and the ambitious firms that access it.”

Warwickshire based Totally RAD received £100,000 in debt finance from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund II, through appointed fund manager partner FDC. Founded by Christopher Rush, a professional musician, Totally RAD  launched in 2013 to provide high quality, face-to-face music tuition for students. The company is now the UK’s largest private music tuition provider, operating in more than 300 schools. It recently debuted its online learning platform - thanks to the backing of the fund.

Christopher Rush, founder and CEO, said: “We believe that professional music tuition should be accessible to everyone and we are leading the way with our work in schools. Our new online platform offering has been supported by the Midlands Engine Investment Fund II, which complements our existing service, enabling pupils to continue lessons in the school holidays, and allowing those in rural areas to access lessons when there are no local teachers available. The funding also means we have been able to look at growth, and are planning on expanding our existing team of eight by an additional five people in the next 12 months.

“Teaching music will always remain our number one priority, and thanks to the fund, we’ll be able to reach more people than ever before.”

Jody Tableporter added: “Totally RAD is an exceptional business that has secured funding to bring its vision and purpose to life. It is just one example of the incredible drive we’ve seen from entrepreneurs across the Midlands - and I look forward to seeing how we can support even more of them in the months to come.”