Entrepreneurs and growing businesses from the region’s design and creative sector have a new face to turn to for investment.

Jonathan Bradford is the new man at the helm of North East Finance’s Design and Creative Fund. The innovative fund was set up in 2007 with money from One North East to support the development of the North East’s design and creative sector.

Jonathan will continue to make investments through the fund which has received a further £1 million from One North East to inject in exciting business prospects by the end of 2009.

Now based in Hexham, Jonathan began his career as an accountant with Arthur Anderson in London before moving to Australia. He brings a wealth of experience to the task, having spent much of the last decade working in the corporate finance sector - both for advisory firms and spin outs looking to attract funding.

Jonathan said: “It’s an exciting opportunity to have the chance to manage an investment fund in the North East. I’ve experienced both sides of the corporate finance fence, working heavily with high growth companies, so it’s a great challenge.

“The Design and Creative Fund has been hugely successful since its inception. It’s a dynamic and emerging sector both regionally and nationally. This is reflected in the number of funding applications and exciting ideas to come forward so far.

“There’s no shortage of ideas but all investments made have to be attractive business propositions. These businesses will have significant commercial potential and, ideally, the prospect of being scalable.”

To date, the Design and Creative Fund has invested over £1.8 million in exciting regional businesses such as Ameeca, a Durham-based developer of educational software and content; and rising Newcastle design agency Deadgood.

The creative industry is the largest and fastest growing sector of the UK economy. It covers a broad spectrum of industries including advertising, architecture, design, fashion, film, computer games, music, performing arts, visual arts, publishing, software, television and radio. The Design and Creative Fund typically funds between £60,000 and £150,000.

Jonathan adds: “Our role is to provide an initial injection of finance in the early stages where more traditional forms of venture capital are missing. They are not grants but convertible loans. The aim is to drive business plans forward to the stage where they can attract follow on investment from other sources.”

For more information about the Design and Creative Fund, contact Jonathan Bradford at North East Finance on 0191 2316 or email: jon.bradford@northeastfinance.org.

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