Leeds City Region is to allocate an additional £26million for capital projects through its Growing Places Fund.
The fund is focused on improving infrastructure but is can also help businesses struggling to agree commercial lending for their own capital investment projects. This second round of funding will offer loans of between £250,000 and £5 million.
Robert Littlefair from Soapstone commented, “Our network is still highlighting the scarcity of traditional lending solutions. As an alternative, the Growing Places Fund is welcome as it does offer flexibility in repayment and cost of capital for businesses expanding in the area. We have found the team at Leeds City Region very supportive and whilst it does take some time to go through the process and does require applicants to have a solid investment case, the fund is proving helpful for ‘shovel ready’ projects needing to complete their funding jigsaw.”
Whilst there are other geographical areas with similar Growing Places Funds, the LCR dealine is 1st November 2012 for expressions of interest so please don’t delay in investigating the fund.
Applicants need to show how the project will result in new jobs and economic growth and need to lever in private funds to invest alongside the loan.
The GPF is managed locally by the LEP and the Leeds City Region Prospectus for Round 2 is available.
Soapstone is able to offer a no-nonsense assessment of project viability against the fund to support businesses when deciding whether to apply.