North East business investor NEL Fund Managers has completed its busiest ever year after making investments in regional firms worth a total of almost £5.9m.
The Newcastle based organisation completed 62 separate investments in businesses across Tyne and Wear, Northumberland and County Durham during 2022, topping last year’s previous record total by just under £250,000. It is now set to increase its focus during 2023 on making investments in regional businesses that are contributing to the ESG (environment, social and governance) agenda. NEL is responsible for managing two elements of the £120m North East Fund Supported By The European Regional Development Fund - the £9m North East Small Loan Fund and the £18m North East Growth Capital Fund.
It has also been an accredited provider for the Government’s Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) for the last 18 months and was reaccredited in the autumn for the new iteration of the RLS, with more than £4m being made available through the scheme to regional firms. An additional £1.4m of private sector leverage has been secured by NEL’s 2022 investees as a result of the growth capital they received this year, while they have already created around 60 new jobs and are forecast to create a further 310 over the lifetime of their investments.
