North East Finance was established in 2003 to deliver transformational change in access to finance provision in the region. These are our objectives:

• Effective implementation of the regional access to finance strategy, ensuring that regional SMEs continue to receive the long-term investment they need to start and grow

• Engagement with private sector investors on a local, national and international basis - maximising the leverage of private sector finance and expertise

• Credibility, skills and experience to conduct negotiations with key funding partners, fund managers and those shaping the access to finance agenda

• Maximisation of the regional benefit from the European Investment Fund JEREMIE programme (Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises) utilising European structural funding and building long-term relationships with major European banking and investment institutions

• A dedicated regional access to finance resource with experience of developing and implementing innovative investment funds

• Maximising the benefits that SMEs, investors and professional intermediaries receive from regional access to finance initiatives via a programme of access to finance marketing

• Ensuring that public sector investment in venture capital and loan funds is deployed ‘with the grain’ of the market in a way which maximises the benefit to companies and investors alike

• Efficient and effective management of the regional legacy programme

Our vision for the future of access to finance provision in the North East is characterised by:

• A sustainable access to finance environment

• The delivery of a continuum of finance

• Greater alignment of access to finance provision

• Raising awareness of finance initiatives and increasing the investment readiness of regional SMEs.

Working with regional partners, our achievements since the early 2000s have included:

• Significant recovery of venture capital deal activity in the North East
• Unprecedented flows of private sector investment into early stage regional businesses from investors outside the region
• Increased corporate finance capacity in response to growing transaction volumes
• Around 80% growth in specialist VC personnel active in the North East
• Rising levels of informal (angel) investment
• Growing numbers of spin-outs from universities
• Enhanced access for local high growth businesses to skilled mentoring support.

Our task today is to build on this success and drive further investment forward in North East England.