The British Business Bank has announced that its £200m South West Investment Fund (SWIF) has passed the £2m investment milestone having completed £2.4m of debt and equity investments in businesses across the region.
The bank launched the fund in July to provide funding to small and medium sized businesses across the whole of the South West region, covering Bristol, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire.
The Bank announced last month the fund’s first equity investment of £500,000 in tech-led commercial waste and recycling business Binit. Now it has added that the South West Investment Fund has also completed a range of debt funding deals from £26,000 up to £500,000, making a total of over £2.4m invested by the fund in South West businesses to date.
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Among the businesses to benefit from investment are a specialist eyewear manufacturer in Devon, a landscape and garden design business in Bath, a Thai restaurant group and a nursery in Dorset, a book publisher in Cornwall and a creative filmmaking business in Bristol.
Ken Cooper, managing director, Venture Solutions, at the British Business Bank, said: “Within weeks of launching the South West Investment Fund our appointed fund managers had received hundreds of enquiries from businesses across the region, so we’re delighted to see these first investments coming through and supporting businesses that might otherwise not receive investment.”
John Peters, managing director of SWIG Finance, added: “I’m really pleased with the positive impact the fund is already having. We’re continuing to experience high demand and want to support as many viable small businesses as we can, from all corners and communities in our region.”
The purpose of the South West Investment Fund is to drive sustainable economic growth by supporting innovation and creating local opportunity for new and growing businesses across the South West.
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Exeter Eyewear is one business to benefit from the fund. The children's eyewear specialist, based on Exeter Science Park received £32,000 from SWIF via fund manager SWIG Finance to support the creation of a new, innovative range of children's glasses frames.
The business is led by qualified optician Rob Barrow, who has been helping children see the world better for over 20 years. Mr Barrow and his team design adjustable glasses frames for children which have far-reaching benefits, particularly for those with craniofacial abnormalities.
He said: “All the product is now at the manufacturing stage and we’re expecting a January launch. Having that investment behind us means we’ve been able to set our stall out from day one. We’ve been working with several high-profile paediatric clinics across the county and now all the knowledge we have built up over the past 20 years is finally being used to bring out our own product in our own name.
“Having the investment from the South West Investment Fund has given us the confidence to start this. You get the feeling that someone is listening to you and believes in what you’re doing.”