• The FSE Group, MEIF Debt Fund is now an accredited lender under the British Business Bank Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)
• Also announces New Head for Midlands Engine Investment Fund.

Accreditation will now allow The FSE Group to issue loans from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) Debt Fund backed by a CBILS guarantee.

Furthermore, following the launch earlier this year of a further £40million MEIF Debt Fund by the British Business Bank, appointed fund manager, The FSE Group, is now delighted to introduce the team managing the fund.

The additional Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) money provides loan funding between £100,000 and £1.5million to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) based across the whole of the Midlands area, to facilitate growth. This latest phase of investment addresses regional demand for alternative debt finance options and brings the number of MEIF funds to seven, with The FSE Group working alongside six other MEIF fund managers.

The FSE Group’s MEIF team is led by Andy Moss. Andy comes to FSE from Lloyds, where he has spent more than 34 years building a strong network in the finance community across the Midlands region. He has led teams across the SME sector, where he specialised in manufacturing and for the last 3 years, worked with large corporates.

Andy is joined by four fund managers and a fund executive, who are working to deliver investments to growing businesses across the whole of the Midlands region:

• Chirag Mistry is the newest member of the FSE team in the Midlands, having spent the last 13 years with Santander. Chirag is also a Sutton Coldfield Chamber of Commerce committee member and will be working with high growth businesses in the West Midlands, focusing on Worcestershire, The Marches, Coventry & Warwickshire and Greater Birmingham & Solihull. 
• Kerry Haughton is a Fund Manager who, before joining FSE, spent 14 years working in various commercial and corporate relationship banking roles for Thincats and RBS, both onshore and offshore. Kerry is working to support SME growth in the West Midlands, focusing on The Black Country, Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire as well as Greater Birmingham & Solihull, along with Chirag.

• Fund Manager, Paul Lynam, joined FSE after almost 37 years with HSBC, Paul is now applying his experience in the commercial banking sector to helping SMEs in the East and South East Midlands unlock their growth potential, focusing on Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.
• David Price joined HSBC over 40 years ago, where he spent the majority of his banking career, working as both a branch manager and a commercial lending manager across several different sectors. He is FSE’s second Fund Manager for the East and South East Midlands, focusing on Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and other areas of the South East Midlands.

• The team is completed by Fund Executive, Harriet Saunders. After graduating from University of Bath with a Business Administration degree, Harriet spent time working in financial support roles, including as a Fund Administrator for Mercia Asset Management, before joining FSE earlier this year.

The FSE Group’s CEO, Paul Marston, said: “We are delighted to welcome Andy to FSE and our Midlands team. The FSE Group has been specialising in SME lending, with a particular focus on managing government and public sector intervention funds, since 2002. Andy’s commercial lending expertise, combined with his regional knowledge is a great fit and a welcome addition, which will be put to good use managing the team and supporting growing SMEs throughout the Midlands.”

Andy Moss, Head of Funds for the Midlands at The FSE Group, added: “The FSE Group is a niche lender with a unique approach, focusing on business potential, rather than security available, to help growing businesses reach their full potential. I am excited to be part of this dynamic team and look forward to leading the successful delivery of this latest MEIF funding.

Grant Peggie, Director, British Business Bank, also commented: “It’s great to see The FSE Group now have a full team in place to work on MEIF, headed up by Andy, who we look forward to working with. MEIF is still very much open for business, especially at a time when businesses are reaching out even more for financial support. We are pleased that The FSE Group also now join our other regional fund managers, BCRS Business Loans and First Enterprise as an accredited lender under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans Scheme.”

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund are supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.