The North East economy is expected to experience a £200m boost in economic output as a direct result of support provided through the British Business Bank in its latest financial year, according to its second annual Impact Report.

Having newly supported 800 businesses across the region in the 2024/25 financial year, the funding provided by the Bank is expected to generate £400m in additional turnover over the lifetime of the finance. This has supported 8,200 existing jobs, while it is estimated to create an additional 900 jobs over the life of the finance provided.

The figures include the Bank’s £660m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II), which recently celebrated its one-year anniversary, having driven over £80m of investment into new and growing businesses across the region since its launch. The fund offers loans from £25,000 up to equity investment of £5m, throughout the North. NPIF II now also covers the whole of the North East, including Teesside.

Today’s Impact Report comes as the Bank’s reach was boosted in June’s Spending Review, where it saw its financial capacity increased to £25.6bn, enabling it to increase annual investments to around £2.5bn a year and crowd in more third party capital.

The report underlines the Bank’s continued commitment to the North East and wider Nations and regions. 84% of the businesses supported by the Bank in 2024/25 were based outside of London - helping to deliver more than a £100m boost to economic output in each and every UK Nation and region.

Shaun Fooy, Senior Network Manager at the British Business Bank, said: “The North East is home to some truly extraordinary businesses, so it’s always a pleasure to take a step back and look at the very real impact we’re having on the region, and 2024/25 has been another very strong year for Bank support. It’s particularly encouraging to see that the share of businesses supported outside of London is so high, ensuring we’re backing businesses right across the UK. There’s plenty more to be excited about in the coming year, and I can’t wait to see this impact grow further and support even more ambitious businesses.”

The national picture

Across the UK in 2024/25, the Bank supported a total of £6.8bn of finance for smaller businesses - £1.2bn of our public funding, £2.6bn of lending guaranteed and an additional £3.0bn of private capital crowded in.

This enabled the Bank to support 24,000 businesses that hadn’t received Bank-supported funding before, as well as 4,000 that were first funded by the Bank before 2024/25. 84% of the businesses supported were outside of London

The expected impacts over the life of this finance are:

The creation of 38,000 additional jobs
£18.0bn of additional business turnover, equivalent to an extra £8.0bn of economic output
A more than £100m boost in economic output in each and every UK Nation and region