BGF pledges to invest £400m in North businesses

GROWTH capital investor BGF has pledged to plough £400m into businesses in the North East and Yorkshire as part of a £3bn commitment to back high-potential firms across the UK over the next five years.

- COREENA FORD

The investor - which has 15 offices across the UK including bases in Newcastle and Leeds - said the new cash pot builds on £711m already invested in the regions since 2011, while addressing regional investment gaps.

The pledge includes £300m for female-powered businesses across the UK, on the back of a previous £25m sum invested into the Invest in Women Task-force (IWT), which helped raise over £250m last year.

Over the last 14 years BGF said its portfolio of UK companies have delivered £7.1bn in revenue growth, £1bn in export growth, and created over 27,000 jobs.