Events are being held across the Midlands to raises businesses’ awareness of the £250million Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF).
MEIF is a Midlands-wide fund to eliminate regional imbalances in business funding, and enable small and medium-sized (SME) companies to finance expansion ambitions. In August (2017), £120million (of debt finance) for SMEs – to help fund growth plans – was released from the MEIF’s total fund.
Information on the MEIF can be found on its website at http://meif.co.uk/
The MEIF is a joint initiative by the British Business Bank; the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy; the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government; and ten Midlands Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), including the D2N2 LEP.
The MEIF’s £250m in resources is made up of Government, British Business Bank and European Investment Bank (EIB) funding; and European Union funding drawn from European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) money previously allocated to LEPs. Up to £78.5m in MEIF funds will come from the Midlands LEPs, including £11.75m from the D2N2 LEP.
An official launch event for the MEIF will be held on Thursday (February 22), from 8am to 10am, at The Birmingham Repertory Theatre in Broad Street, Birmingham. Speakers will include a senior Government representative; Patrick Magee, Chief Commercial Officer for the British Business Bank; and Nick Pulley, Chair of the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership, and Chair of the MEIF Strategic Oversight Board.
This launch will be followed by a series of free briefing events in the Midlands, hosted by the British Business Bank and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), to raise awareness of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund. Events will be held in each of the ten Midlands LEPs’ areas.
The event for businesses in the area covered by the D2N2 LEP (Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire) will be held from 8am to 10am, on Wednesday March 14, at the Carriage Shop Theatre, The Roundhouse, Roundhouse Rd, Pride Park, Derby (DE24 8JE).
Speakers at this D2N2 area event will include Peter Richardson, Chair of the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership; and Ken Cooper, Managing Director of Venture Capital Solutions, part of the British Business Bank.
Businesses will be able to ask a panel questions about the MEIF and how to access growth funding from it.
For further information on the Midlands Engine Investment Fund, visit its website at http://meif.co.uk/
Media requiring further information on the Midlands Engine Investment Fund can contact Amanda Lowe at Story Comms PR agency on Amanda@wearestorycomms.com or mobile 07766 465670.
