A council-funded project that has created 200 new jobs and helped generate £30m for the local economy is to move into a new five-year programme.
The £20m Finance Durham Fund was set up in 2016 with the aim of helping local companies to grow as well as encouraging firms to set up in County Durham. Five years in, the fund has invested just over £10m into 20 companies, creating 224 new jobs and safeguarding 790 existing posts.
A report to Durham County Council next week will reveal that an agreement with investment firm Maven Capital Partners has been extended to keep the scheme going for another five years.
Read more: North East's fastest growing companies revealed
So far the fund has made 33 investments into 21 companies, totalling £10.2m. Income generated of £768,000 has been re-invested into the fund, and it made its first successful exit earlier this year when data company Intelligence Fusion was bought by the US-based Sigma 7 group,
Coun James Rowlandson, the council’s cabinet member for resources, investment and assets, said: “We are delighted at what has been achieved through the Finance Durham Fund in its first five years. We have invested in excess of £10m in more than 20 businesses across our communities and in sectors and technologies that are at the forefront of change or that add to the county’s capabilities to attract even more investment.
“Indeed, the money we have given out so far has enabled investment of more than £30m in the county and this has in turn supported the creation of more than 200 jobs and safeguarded nearly 800 more. It is clear to see the vital role the fund plays in developing our economy, with this recognised by it being named as a key project within our draft Inclusive Economic Strategy, and we are very excited at what the next five years of Finance Durham can bring.”
The fund supported the creation of the Hotel Indigo in Durham and also helped solar panel firm Power Roll Ltd develop a low cost, low weight solar film.
But it suffered a blow earlier this year when insurance tech firm Honcho, which it had backed, went into liquidation.
Don Scott, chief commercial officer at Power Roll, said: “We have appreciated the support we have received from Finance Durham as we scale-up the manufacturing processes for our unique solar film. We have used some of the funding to expand our team here at Jade Business Park and we look forward to working with Finance Durham as we execute our growth plans over the coming years.”
The council will next week hear how the £10.2m from the fund has brought in an additional £32.3m of investment, and helped created GVA impact of £29.7m. The report says that the scheme “did well to weather the economic shocks of Brexit and Covid” and that the pipeline of inquires for funding is “strong”.
READ NEXT:
