Cosford finance event a must for Marches businesses, says champion

Businesses across the Marches cannot afford to miss out on a high-profile event which brings together a host of finance experts, a business champion says.

Marches Local Enterprise Partnership access to finance champion Paul Kalinauckas says the free March 24 event at RAF Cosford represents a golden opportunity for businesses to learn about and access vital funding to help them grow.

The event – being staged by the British Business Bank and the Marches LEP – brings together leading fund managers who can offer in-depth advice about the many sources of finance available through the LEP, its business support arm the Marches Growth Hub, and the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF).

It will be hosted by Tracy Sherratt, UK network manager for the West Midlands at British Business Bank. She will be joined by Paul and MEIF fund managers Naomi Campion, business development manager for BCRS, Ryan Cartwright, investment manager at the FSE Group, and Huw Sparkes, investment manager at Midven.

Paul said: “It is a real coup for the LEP and British Business Bank to have got so much expertise together in the same room to share their knowledge about how businesses can get the funding they need to grow.

“The level of knowledge which will be available for Marches businesses is really quite something, and I would urge all businesses who are looking to access funding to attend so that they can tap into this help.

“There is funding here ready to be allocated to businesses across the Marches and this really is a golden opportunity for our companies to get first-class access to some of the fund managers who decide how it is spent.”

The event at Cosford is part of the LEP’s ongoing Finance Your Business campaign, which highlights how the LEP can help small and medium-sized businesses.

There are more than 70 funding programmes available through the Marches Growth Hub, which has helped 4,150 businesses in the first half of 2022/23 alone.

The British Business Bank is owned by but independent of the government. It aims to drive sustainable growth and prosperity across the UK, and to help smaller businesses to become net zero by helping them to access finance.

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) – a collaboration between the British Business Bank and regional LEPs including the Marches – has already injected more than £150million into Midlands’ small businesses since 2017. It provides commercially focussed finance through Small Business Loans, Debt Finance, Proof of concept and Equity Finance funds.

To book for the event, visit How finance can help your business fly – Marches Growth Hub