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| Leeds Armouries Author Xtrmemachineuk Licence CC BY-SA 4.0 Source Wikimedia Commons |
Hours after returning from Estonia, I drove to Leeds to attend the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II Roadshow at the Royal Armouries Museum. Readers will be aware of my interest in this fund from my articles Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II of 4 April 2024, Innovate UK Regional Investment Spotlight – Liverpool of 6 July 2024 and Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II - Meeting the Funders of 14 July 2024 in NIPC Northwest and Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund's First Investment in Yorkshire of 19 July 2024 in NIPC Yorkshire.
The roadshow consisted of an introduction to and overview of the Fund by the British Business Bank, presentations by the Business Enterprise Fund and Mercia Asset Management and questions and answers to a panel consisting of representatives of the funding institutions.
I asked two questions.
The first arising from the government's announcement that funding to local enterprise partnerships had ceased in April 2024 which I mentioned in The End of LEPs in NIPC News on 8 Aug 2024 was how well local authorities were coping with their business advice and support tasks that the LEPs had performed since 2010 and Business Link before then. I was encouraged and not a little surprised to learn that the institutions had found the transition from LEPs to elected authorities had gone well. My experience had been more patchy. I delivered a 90-minute introduction to IP law to staff at the London Boroughs Legal Alliance on 1 Oct 2024 which seemed to go down very well. On the other hand I shared the slides and offered to repeat the talk to staff members of my own mayoral authority but have not yet received a response.
My other question was prompted by a response that I had been given at the Innovate UK Regional Investment Spotlight in Liverpool. I had asked about going public and was told that the Alterbatve Investment Market or indeed any kind of stock market flotation was no longer available to successful scale-ups. I did not understand the answer so I asked the Mercia fund managers for their experience. Several said that they had clients who had made successful initial public offerings.
The event concluded with networking over hot drinks and pastries, It was good to see Colin Glass of WGN Business Advisers and Stephen Waud, Chief Executive of the Business Enterprise Fund for the first time in years. I also met Peter Sorsby, Investment Director of Mercia Asset Management.
Altogether, it was a good day out of chambers. Anyone wishing to discuss this article may call me on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact form.
Altogether, it was a good day out of chambers. Anyone wishing to discuss this article may call me on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact form.
