Chancellor announces new funding boost for Northern Powerhouse

Chancellor, George Osborne has announced that a new £400M European fund that could benefit small businesses across the North of England.

Mr Osborne, fresh from delivering the first Conservative budget in nearly 20 years, set out the next phases in building the Northern Powerhouse as he visited local businesses yesterday.

On his visit, the Chancellor announced the government would be collaborating with Local Enterprise Partnerships and local authorities in an effort to secure new funding from EU Regional Funds for small businesses in the north, which would be made available to SMEs later in the year. This funding will be in addition to the £382.5M already being invested in the north through an existing similar scheme.

The funding is to be made up of equity and loan finance to start-ups, growing companies in their early stages of development and larger companies with plans for increased growth. This will form the next phase of JEREMIE (Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises) funding for the Northern Powerhouse.

The Chancellor said: “Small business are the lifeblood of the Northern Powerhouse and this funding has the potential to make an enormous difference to hundreds of SMEs right across the north.

“From supporting thousands of northern companies through increasing the Annual Investment Allowance and giving businesses an extra £1,000 with an increase in the Employment Allowance, my Budget last week backed businesses across the north and this funding has the potential to do even more.”

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