News

The Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF) has reached a major milestone having invested over £21m to support the growth of more than 55 businesses, creating or safeguarding almost 1,000 jobs and attracting a further £80m of private investment.

Since its launch by the British Business Bank and the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) in 2018, the fund has been providing market-gap loans and equity investment to SMEs (small to medium enterprises) with high-growth potential via appointed fund manager, The FSE Group.

A recent CIOSIF evaluation showed businesses supported by the fund have strengthened their skills base, improved efficiency, become more innovative and reduced their environmental impact.

Two-thirds believed these positive outcomes had either been accelerated as a result of CIOSIF funding or would not have happened without it. And 90% of businesses surveyed reported increased resilience as a result of the funding they received.

Ken Cooper, Managing Director from the British Business Bank, said: “The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Investment Fund has been a catalyst for over £100m of total investment in local businesses since its launch, driving growth, skills and innovation while boosting business resilience. We are building on that success with the launch of our £200m South West Investment Fund next month to increase the supply and diversity of early-stage finance across the region.”

John Acornley, Chair of the CIOSIF Advisory Board and until recently a LEP non-executive director, said: “When we developed the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Investment Fund with the British Business Bank the aim was to break down barriers in access to finance for SMEs in the region. Five years later we have seen how successful it has been in unlocking the potential of growth businesses and demonstrating the transformative impact of external finance.”

Ralph Singleton, Cornwall Head of Fund at The FSE Group, added: “It has been a real pleasure to support the rich and diverse range of growing businesses across the whole of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly region. At FSE we pride ourselves on our ‘more than money’ approach and it’s great to see from the evaluation how much this is valued, with both customers and stakeholders commenting positively on the team’s expertise and the wider support provided. We are particularly proud of the wide range of industries supported.”

CIOSIF will continue to provide debt and equity funding between £25,000 and £2million until the end of 2023.

In July the British Business Bank will launch the £200m South West Investment Fund (SWIF). It will offer a range of commercial finance options with loans from £25,000 to £2 million and equity investment up to £5 million across the South West region. SWIF is the first in a series of six new Nations and Regions Investment Funds being launched by the Bank.

Recipients of CIOSIF funding include:

Tugdock
Patented marine buoyancy bag technology facilitating the building of floating offshore wind turbine substructures. A CIOSIF equity investment, matched by Sarens, is being used for a range of growth activities, including establishing a manufacturing facility in Cornwall, hiring new staff and undertaking sales and marketing activity.

Shane Carr, Tugdock Founder and CEO, said: “FSE remained in contact as we progressed our leading-edge technology, ready to invest when the time was right. We are grateful for their continued support and, with this funding from CIOSIF and Sarens, look forward to scaling the business and making the most of this exciting global opportunity.”

Refined Brands
A family of ethically sourced British fashion brands with a focus on natural materials and sustainability. Its digitally native portfolio of companies includes Cornwall-based Celtic & Co and Frugi, as well as Kettlewell Colours and Turtle Doves.  A £1.5 million CIOSIF equity investment was secured as part of a £6.75 million funding round to further accelerate growth.

Ben Barnett, Chairman of Refined Brands, said: “We are delighted to welcome CIOSIF as an investor into our expanding group. We value the FSE team’s experience in supporting businesses throughout the region and believe their input will help us achieve our ambitious goals for organic growth both in the UK and internationally.”

Pentire Drinks
Plant-based, non-alcoholic spirits made by distilling plants native to the local Cornish coastline that can be found in Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason and Fenwick. A certified B-Corp that donates proceeds to the Blue Marine Foundation. A £500,000 CIOSIF equity investment was secured as part of a £3m funding round to grow the team and expand multiple areas of the business.

Alistair Frost, Pentire Drinks CEO & Co-Founder, said: “Our drinks encompass what it means to be Cornish and we work hard to make sure they inspire our customers without damaging our local environment. We’re well on the way to becoming an easily-recognisable brand and the CIOSIF funding is enabling us to continue this rate of growth, putting Pentire firmly in the drinks cabinets of people across the globe.”

For more information about the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Investment Fund including how to apply, please visit ciosif.co.uk or follow the fund on Twitter at @CIOSIFBBB2.

A specialist technology consultancy and software developer has secured a £500,000 investment from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), provided by The FSE Group Debt Finance Fund and backed by the Recovery Loan Scheme.

With a focus on technology and process transformation in the retail sector, Retail247 has developed a suite of proprietary cloud-based solutions for its retail customers, who include Reiss, Crew Clothing, AllSaints, and LK Bennett. The funding will be used to expand its skilled tech team and enable further product development to meet increased demand.

Designed in-house and from the ground up, Retail247’s ORIGIN and QUANTUM product information and stock transaction management platforms provide a scalable and configurable end-to-end solution that meets the needs of multi-channel retailers.

Martin Schofield, Retail247 CEO and Co-Founder, said: “As ORIGIN and QUANTUM are successfully rolled out to more retailers, we are seeing a significant uptick in interest for our innovative solutions and funding is needed to support ongoing development activity and recruit new staff to grow the business.

“To date, we have self-invested in the development of our technology. We have been successful not only with the development, but also in achieving market entry. Now we need to scale, and we are delighted that FSE is able to provide the MEIF loan to support this stage of our growth.”

Ryan Cartwright, Investment Manager at The FSE Group, added: “The team’s extensive retail sector experience has helped them develop a customer focused platform that has already established strong market penetration with some well-known brands on board. Their ability to develop and launch these well-received products and generate early revenues without significant investment is testament to the quality of the team and we look forward to working with them as they continue to grow the business.”

The UK retail market in 2022 was worth almost £450billion with 1.5-2% of this typically spent on technology. By 2030 this is expected to rise to 3-3.5% and Retail247 is looking to tap into this growing market with its high-performing architecture, upon which it is now building transactional intelligence, which will provide customers with a best-in-class order management system by the end of this year.

Mark Wilcockson, Senior Investment Manager at the British Business Bank, said: “The MEIF supports ambitious Midlands-based businesses looking to expand and grow. This investment in Retail247 will support the expansion of its skilled tech team, creating new high value job roles in the Midlands region, as well as supporting the company’s investment into new products to meet growing demand.”  

Professor Neal Juster, Chair of the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “We’re very pleased to see that Retail247 has secured this funding which will allow them to scale up, grow their team and develop more innovative cloud-based products.

“Greater Lincolnshire is developing a reputation for high-tech innovation, and Retail247 is at the forefront of that exciting development.

“We’d like to wish the company luck and we look forward to seeing the results of this significant investment.”

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund project is 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 2014-2022 and the European Investment Bank. The FSE Group manages a section of MEIF that provides investments between £100,000 and £1.5 million to support growing SMEs across the region. For more information visit: www.thefsegroup.com/fund/midlands-engine-investment-fund-debt-finance.

We're delighted to announce that, together with the support of the many and varied lenders we work with, we have now facilitated more than £15m of essential loans and working capital facilities for businesses of all shapes and sizes.

Among the many highlights are:

• A commercial mortgage of £850,000 provided for a company within the film industry supplying camera and audio equipment for blockbuster movies – the mortgage payments are much lower than the rent they were paying and they now have a secure unit to home them as they grow.
• A working capital facility of £200,000 provided for a firm of Architects to aid cashflow whilst working on large, slow paying projects
• A consolidation exercise carried out for a company in civil engineering, which cut monthly debt repayments in half. This enabled them to focus on tendering for new jobs and worry less about the financials of the business.

Of course, we like it best of all when customers come back to us again and again.

• We have helped a repeat customer with asset finance to put a sixth van on the road, having grown to a level where the fleet regularly needs to expand to fulfil demand.
• A portfolio landlord has completed on five buy-to-let properties with us and has handed over the reins to manage his upcoming renewal deals.

We are very proud to have been a part of supporting the SME community in securing much-needed funding, especially through the trials of COVID and its aftermath.

Whether it's been for growth and expansion, getting business owners on the start-up ladder to success, or simply a helping hand with cashflow, we've achieved a lot and have built some lovely business relationships along the way.

Thank you to all our customers for using our services, we wouldn't be here without you.

And here's to the next milestone and many more years of serving business owners in the way we know best - as independent and impartial advisers, with our whole of market brokerage services.

A Guest blog from our friends at Productivity Finance.

Producing sustainable products for warehouse storage, packaging and logistics, The Alternative Pallet Company, trading as PALLITE® Group, has received follow-on funding from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), provided by The FSE Group Debt Finance Fund and backed by the Recovery Loan Scheme.

This latest £750,000 funding for the company follows a previous MEIF investment, which saw the company create 18 new jobs at its Wellingborough base, establish trading in new overseas markets, and more than double its sales revenues.

The new funding will be used to create new roles in finance and operations, boosting capacity to meet increased demand and supporting the next phase of growth.

PALLITE’s® award-winning range of paper-based products is 100% recyclable and offers a genuine alternative for customers seeking to further their sustainability goals. The range includes PIX® flexible warehouse storage solutions, shipping crates, layer board, pallets and packaging.

Due to the innovative honeycomb technology that underpins all PALLITE® ’s solutions, the company is to be awarded a King’s Award for Excellence in Innovation – making it one of only 148 organisations nationally to be recognised with a prestigious King’s Award.

Paul Etty, PALLITE® Finance Director, said: “We are delighted to have secured MEIF funding, which ensures we press ahead with our growth plans. Our products provide customers with environmentally friendly solutions to help reach their sustainability targets. We are honoured to be a recipient of a King’s Award and excited to be taking this offering to more markets. FSE has continued to show an understanding of our business model and is able to invest where traditional lenders cannot.”

Ann Marie McFadyen, Investment Manager at The FSE Group, added: “Paul and the team have made impressive progress since our last loan – despite difficult trading conditions caused by covid and Brexit – with the company on track to deliver over 100% growth in 2023 for the second year running. We are pleased to be continuing to support this growing and ambitious business as it develops more sustainable products for worldwide use.”

Over 25% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions are produced from the transport sector and environmental legislation requires businesses to take action to reduce this. As one of the UK’s leading producers of honeycomb paper products including pallets and collapsible boxes, PALLITE® is well-placed to support this transition.

Mark Wilcockson, Senior Investment Manager at the British Business Bank, said: “The MEIF supports SMEs in the Midlands that are focused on innovative and eco-friendly business practices. MEIF’s follow-on funding for PALLITE® will support the company’s further growth plans and help create new roles in the region to meet the increase in demand following a successful first funding round.”

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund project is 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 2014-2022 and the European Investment Bank. The FSE Group manages a section of MEIF that provides investments between £100,000 and £1.5 million to support growing SMEs across the region. For more information visit: www.thefsegroup.com/fund/midlands-engine-investment-fund-debt-finance.

Leeds-based Creode Agency is expanding with a £100,000 investment from Finance Yorkshire.

The integrated digital marketing agency has used the investment from Finance Yorkshire’s business loans fund to assist in its acquisition of Blue Digital, another Leeds agency.

The acquisition will enable Creode to strengthen its service offering to clients across the Yorkshire region. The agency provides marketing, brand and website development and digital media support to B2B SMEs in professional and financial services and other sectors.

Creode employs 28 people and is managed by CEO Guy Weston. He said: “The acquisition complements our offer to clients and strengthens our broader proposition, particularly in the Google Ads and SEO space which is a growing area for us.

“The benefit for clients using an integrated agency is that we can be more efficient on their behalf – we have the overview of the different elements of work and can keep our focus where it needs to be.”

Guy has ambitious plans for Creode. “There are lots of opportunities in Yorkshire to grow,” said Guy. “Acquisition is a good way to gain additional clients and we would look to do it again beyond the next 12 months.”

Alex McWhirter, chief executive of Finance Yorkshire, said: “Digital and creative are among the fastest growing sectors in Yorkshire and particularly in Leeds. Creode has a strong track record as digital marketeers and we are pleased to support them in their growth journey.”