An independent early assessment of the British Business Bank’s Nations and Regions Investment Funds has found evidence that the programme is reaching firms facing gaps in access to finance. The evaluation covers activity to September 2025, when six funds had made 951 investments in 877 businesses, deploying £294 million and drawing alongside it a further £233 million in private-sector investment.
Evidence from the first six funds
The six funds assessed were the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II, Midlands Engine Investment Fund II, South West Investment Fund, Investment Fund for Scotland, Investment Fund for Wales and Investment Fund for Northern Ireland. They were established in 2023/24 as part of a £1.6 billion programme. Each has a five-year investment period followed by five years for realisation and repayment, so the assessment captures an early stage rather than the full eventual economic effect.
The evaluation, undertaken by research company SQW, drew on monitoring data, interviews with stakeholders and surveys of businesses that received support. It found the programme’s design fit for purpose, deployment broadly on target by September 2025 and feedback on delivery generally positive. Those findings concern programme operation and emerging outcomes; they should not be read as proof that every supported business would otherwise have failed or that all reported gains were caused solely by the investment.
One measure of additionality was the response from surveyed firms: 81 per cent said their finance was wholly or partly additional. In practical terms, respondents said they would have been unable to secure finance, or would have obtained less funding or waited longer. The distinction matters because public-backed regional funds are intended to fill financing gaps, not merely replace commercial money that would have been available on the same terms.
The £233 million of private finance alongside the funds equated to 79 pence for every pound invested through the programme by September 2025. The assessment says fund managers often acted as cornerstone investors in funding rounds, helping bring in other capital. That leverage measure is not a return to the public purse; it records private investment secured alongside programme finance.
Reported business outcomes and examples
Businesses surveyed also described operational changes. Two-thirds said workforce skills had improved, 77 per cent reported increased productive capacity and 71 per cent improved efficiency. The assessment identified about £45.5 million of additional research and development investment, with half of supported firms increasing their R&D activity. More than half of equity recipients were securing institutional finance for the first time. These are reported early outcomes, not a forecast of future survival or growth.
The release gives examples of the variety of activity financed. Cumbria-based ScrubMarine, which is developing autonomous robotics for inspecting and maintaining marine infrastructure, secured more than £740,000 in pre-seed funding in 2025, led by the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II through PXN Equity Finance. The company said the money was being used to complete a prototype, expand engineering work across Whitehaven and Edinburgh, and prepare for commercial pilot deployments with fleet operators.
Exeter-based RoleMapper received a £1 million equity investment from the South West Investment Fund. Its job architecture and levelling platform is developing tools for employers adapting to changing work and pay-transparency requirements. The company said it used the funding to strengthen its product and build RoleEvaluate. These cases illustrate the types of projects backed, but two examples cannot establish the overall success rate of the programme.
Programme totals continue to grow
The Bank’s later monitoring figures put total investment at more than £465 million across 1,254 businesses by July 2026, with £417 million in private investment attracted alongside. These later totals cover activity after the evaluation’s September 2025 cut-off, so they should not be confused with the assessment’s £294 million deployed and £233 million leveraged. The programme has also expanded through the more recent South East Investment Fund and East of England Investment Fund, bringing targeted finance to every UK nation and region outside London.
The evaluation provides an early measure of whether the first funds are reaching businesses and bringing additional capital into local markets. Its evidence on additionality, investment leverage and reported operational changes offers a baseline for judging the programme as its longer investment and repayment cycles continue.
