Greater Manchester Business Investment Fund
A combined-authority evergreen fund lending and investing £250k to £5m at commercial rates into Greater Manchester businesses that can evidence matched private funding and a genuine funding gap.
What they do
The fund is capitalised by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and recycles its returns into new investment. Loans and equity from £250k to £5m are made at commercial rates into businesses in the ten Greater Manchester boroughs, with priority given to digital, creative, low-carbon, advanced manufacturing and foundational-economy sectors. An applicant must demonstrate matched funding from private lenders or investors and a genuine gap that the market has not filled, since the fund exists to complete structures rather than to replace commercial finance.
Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise
Gap funding is exactly what a lower-mid-market transaction often needs: the bank will lend most of it, the equity is in place, and something in the middle is missing. For a Greater Manchester business creating jobs in a priority sector, £3m to £5m from this fund can be the piece that closes a deal, and it comes on commercial rather than concessionary terms so it sits comfortably beside private money.
Where they are not the fit
Location inside the ten boroughs is a hard requirement, and so is the matched-funding test: this fund will not be the only lender. Sectors outside the priority list are a harder case. The ceiling of £5m puts most of a £3–15m raise beyond what it can carry alone.
Published terms
- Pricing
- Provided at commercial rates (loans and equity between £0.25m and £5m at commercial rates). Specific bps/coupon not published
- Speed to terms
- Not published
- Sponsored or sponsorless
- Corporate/direct SME borrowers looking to grow and create jobs in Greater Manchester.
- Where they lend
- Greater Manchester only (the 10 GMCA boroughs). Not a national lender. Carry GB + GB-ENG for the matcher but the GM-only restriction is a hard geographic gate
- How they decide
- Applicant must evidence matched funding from private lenders/investors and a demonstrable funding gap; gap-funding public vehicle
- Personal guarantee
- Typically required
As published by the lender and last reviewed August 2026. Terms quoted on a deal are set by the credit, not by a published band.
The desks that lend
Greater Manchester Business Investment Fund lends through 2 separate books. Which one reads a deal decides the security, the covenant package and the band, so the question is rarely whether Greater Manchester Business Investment Fund lends, but which of these would own it.
Business investment fund - loan (debt)
- Facility
- £250k to £5m
- Security
- May take collateral over company assets and/or personal guarantees from directors; gap-funding basis behind private lenders
- Funds
- Acquisition · Growth
- Rules out
- Borrower must be located in or creating jobs in Greater Manchester (10 boroughs) only; Requires evidence of matched funding from private lenders or investors; Must demonstrate a genuine funding gap not met by mainstream private finance; Sector-gated to priority sectors (digital, creative, low-carbon, advanced manufacturing, foundational economy)
Business investment fund - equity
- Facility
- £250k to £5m
- Security
- Equity stake; commercial-rate return basis
- Funds
- Growth
- Rules out
- Greater Manchester geography only; Requires matched private funding; Funding-gap test; Priority-sector gated
How they sit against the category
- Its published ceiling is £5m; 7 of the 7 regional and government-anchored funds here go at least as high.
- 1 of the 7 publish an indicative price at all; it is one of them.
Counted across the 7 regional & government-anchored funds in this directory, on what each one publishes. What a lender discloses and what it will do are different things.
Questions this page answers
How large a facility does Greater Manchester Business Investment Fund write?
Published facilities run £250k to £5m. A band is what a lender states it will do, not what it will do on a given credit.
Does Greater Manchester Business Investment Fund require a personal guarantee?
On Greater Manchester Business Investment Fund's published terms, a personal guarantee is typically required. What a lender asks for on a given credit is settled in the documents, not by a published stance.
Does Greater Manchester Business Investment Fund lend to companies without a private-equity sponsor?
Yes. Greater Manchester Business Investment Fund lends to owner-managed and corporate borrowers, and publishes no private-equity sponsor proposition.
Where does Greater Manchester Business Investment Fund lend?
Greater Manchester only (the 10 GMCA boroughs). Not a national lender. Carry GB + GB-ENG for the matcher but the GM-only restriction is a hard geographic gate.
What does Greater Manchester Business Investment Fund lend?
The published product set is business investment fund - loan, business investment fund - equity. Published sector focus is advanced-manufacturing, creative, digital, foundational-economy, low-carbon.
Sources
This profile is a curated reference note drawn from public sources, not financial advice or a recommendation. Appetite and terms change; a lender's fit for a given credit is established by approaching it, not inferred from a page.