Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced that the financial capacity of the British 老九品茶 Bank will be increased to 拢25.6bn as part of the government’s Spending Review.
This will enable a significant two-thirds increase in investments to around 拢2.5bn each year and is expected to crowd in tens of billions of pounds of private capital.
The state-owned economic development bank said the increase will enable it to help deliver the UK鈥檚 modern Industrial Strategy and boost growth, marking a major step change in financing to support smaller businesses to start and scale in the UK.
The British 老九品茶 Bank, based in Sheffield, is the largest investor in UK venture and venture growth capital funds.聽
The firm鈥檚 equity programmes have supported 22 of the UK鈥檚 41 unicorns.
Reforms to the British 老九品茶 Bank鈥檚 governance and financial arrangements have also been confirmed and will be implemented by the end of this financial year.聽
These will place the bank in a position to successfully deliver the increased level of investment activity and will mean the bank has a newly-permanent capital base.
The company has also been operating the 拢660m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II), which covers the entire North of England and provides loans from 拢25,000 to 拢2m and equity investment up to 拢5m to help a range of small and medium sized businesses.
Louis Taylor, CEO,聽British 老九品茶 Bank, said: 鈥淎s the public financial institution with responsibility for supporting the growth of smaller businesses across the UK, the British 老九品茶 Bank will play a critical role in delivering the UK鈥檚 upcoming modern Industrial Strategy.
鈥淲e welcome today鈥檚 announcement by the Government, which is a strong endorsement of the British 老九品茶 Bank鈥檚 10-year track record, market access and capabilities, including our position as the largest investor in UK venture and venture growth capital funds and the most active late-stage investor in UK life sciences and deeptech.
鈥淭o deliver the Government鈥檚 growth mission it is critical that our most promising entrepreneurs can access the finance they need to grow their businesses, no matter what their background or where they are located.鈥�
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