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Mercia passes £5m milestone in debt funding from NPIF II fund

Press release 16 December 2024

Mercia Debt - which manages part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II) - has marked a key milestone, having provided over £5m in debt finance since the launch of the Fund earlier this year.

Portrait image of Pete Sorsby

Mercia has provided a total of £5.5m in business loans to 17 companies covering a wide range of sectors, with the majority based in Yorkshire and Humber. They include Change Accountants in York, Thornton Park Farm near Sowerby Bridge which is setting up a glamping site, Ilkley-based Talk Straight which provides broadband and cloud services to schools, Leeds cybersecurity firm Xentra, Lab Systems Furniture of Hull and Birkenhead-based energy and environmental consultancy Inteb.

Pete Sorsby, Fund Principal at Mercia Debt, said the new fund had generated strong interest from the business and advisory community, with many more deals in the pipeline. “Debt funding plays a critical role in supporting business growth,” he said. “Our mission is to help SMEs in the North to access the finance they need, particularly those that might otherwise not receive it.

Mercia provided over £77m in debt funding to almost 300 companies through the first Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF I) which resulted in some fantastic growth stories. The latest fund builds on the success of NPIF I, however the maximum loan amount has increased to £2m and the fund has additional flexibility which enables us to support a wider range of business sectors.

We have also worked hard to build our networks and extend our reach into different areas and communities to make them aware of the funding available. As a result we are already seeing a more diverse mix in terms of the type of businesses, founders and locations. We are looking forward to working with them as they build their business and to speaking with other ambitious entrepreneurs seeking funding for growth.”

NPIF II – Mercia Debt Finance provides debt finance from £100,000 to £2m to companies in Yorkshire and Humber with some flexibility to lend across the North.

Lizzy Upton, senior investment manager, at the British Business Bank, said:

After launching this year, it is great to see so many businesses across Yorkshire and the Humber making use of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II. We worked with Mercia to deliver the first NPIF, and now this £5m milestone is continuing to deliver transformational change to businesses in the North. From glamping pods to cybersecurity and accountants to broadband and cloud service providers, Mercia is supporting a wide variety of sectors, and we look forward to seeing how they will expand their support to more underrepresented founders and underserved areas.

The £660m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II) covers the entire North of England and provides loans from £25k to £2m and equity investment up to £5m to help a range of small and medium sized businesses to start up, scale up or stay ahead.

The purpose of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II is to drive sustainable economic growth by supporting innovation and creating local opportunity for new and growing businesses across the North of England. The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II will increase the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for the North’s smaller businesses, providing funds to firms that might otherwise not receive investment and help to break down barriers in access to finance.

Further Information

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Notes to editors

About Mercia Ventures

Mercia Ventures is a proactive venture capital investor focused on being the first-choice partner for growth. Mercia Ventures makes equity investments of up to £10million across all sectors, with specialisms in Software, Consumer, Healthcare and Deep Tech.

Mercia Ventures is a trading name of investment funds managed by Mercia Fund Management Limited and Mercia Regional Ventures Limited, part of the Mercia Asset Management PLC Group, and sits alongside the Group’s wider private equity, debt and proprietary balance sheet operations. The Group has 11 offices in the UK, and Mercia Ventures’ national footprint and 48 strong investment team draws on their experiences as founders, PhD scientists, software engineers, corporate financiers and management consultants to help our partner companies successfully achieve their ambitions. As at 30 September 2023, Mercia Asset Management PLC has c.£1.5billion of assets under management. Mercia Asset Management PLC is quoted on AIM with the epic "MERC".

The Group raises its own Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) and Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) Funds, and details about open offers can be found through Mercia’s website.

Mercia Asset Management PLC is quoted on AIM with the epic "MERC" and includes the following wholly owned subsidiaries -

  • Mercia Fund Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA under firm reference number 524856
  • Mercia Regional Ventures Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA under firm reference number 183363
  • Mercia Business Loans Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA under firm reference number 443560
  • Frontier Development Capital Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA under firm reference number 829697

www.mercia.co.uk

About the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II

  • Operated by the British Business Bank, NPIF II provides a mix of debt and equity funding. NPIF II will offer a range of commercial finance options with smaller loans from £25k to £100k, debt finance from £100k to £2m and equity investment up to £5 million. It works alongside the Combined Authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), and Growth Hubs, as well as local intermediaries such as accountants, fund managers and banks, to support the North’s smaller businesses at all stages of their development.
  • The funds in which the NPIF II invests are open to businesses with material operations, or planning to open material operations, in: Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire & Warrington, Cumbria, Liverpool City Region, Leeds City Region, South Yorkshire Combined Mayoral Authority, York & North Yorkshire, Humber and East Yorkshire, Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne & Wear
  • Supported by Nations and Regions Investments Limited, a subsidiary of British Business Bank plc, the Bank is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government. Neither Nations and Regions Investments Limited nor British Business Bank plc are authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

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