The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund I (NPIF), supported by the European Regional Development Fund, provided commercially focussed finance through Microfinance, Debt and Equity Finance funds.

NPIF was a collaboration between the British Business Bank and ten Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in the North West, Yorkshire, the Humber and Tees Valley, and it provided over £500m of investment to boost small and medium business (SME) growth in the North of England.

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund I aimed to transform the finance landscape for smaller businesses in the North of England and to realise the region’s potential to achieve economic growth through enterprise.

£660m of government funding for the second Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund was announced in the Spending Review 2021. The next generation of NPIF will include the North East LEP area ensuring that it can support innovative and growing businesses across the North. More information will be posted in due course.

The current Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.