UK's private capital landscape
At Mercia, we take a whole-market view of the UK’s private capital landscape and a targeted approach to deploying institutional and retail capital across venture, private debt, private equity and property development finance. We combine local insight with national scale, supporting businesses at different stages of development, while offering investors diversified access to underserved segments of the UK economy.
Our conviction remains: the regional disparity is a national opportunity.
Our strategies
Venture capital
We back early-stage, IP-rich businesses through EIS, VCT and public-sector funds. Focus areas include:
- Life Sciences & Health
- Software & AI
- Deep Tech
- Consumer Innovation
Private debt
Through Frontier Development Capital and Mercia Business Loans, we offer:
- Senior and stretch senior loans
- Growth capital lending
- Property development finance
Private equity
Growth capital for established, profitable UK SMEs (enterprise values typically <£20m). We support:
- Leadership transformation
- Buy-and-build strategies
- Organic expansion
Property development finance
Our property lending strategy funds regeneration and development projects across the UK, with a focus on:
- Brownfield redevelopment
- Strategic land and commercial projects
- Secured, downside-mitigated debt structures
Looking to invest?
Mercia Evolution Fund
Raising second close for private debt fund
Property Fund
High-quality, secured national property lending opportunities
Over £2.19bn deployed
Transactions completed
£800m+ returned to investors
Realised returns up to 9.6x in Private Equity
£526m under VCT and EIS management
What sets us apart
Regional deal flow
Proprietary deal flow through 11 UK regional offices
Collaborative, multi-asset expertise
Multi-asset class capability with shared insight and cross-platform collaboration
Deep sector knowledge
Sector expertise embedded within investment teams
Active value creation
Active stewardship, board participation and exit planning
ESG at the core
ESG embedded across every strategy
Institutional trust & public mandate
Trusted by leading institutions and government-backed programmes
A platform for institutional capital
Our FCA-regulated systems have been designed to meet the ambitions of pension funds, asset managers, insurers, endowments and consultants.
We offer:
- Regional impact and national scale
- Place-based investment aligned with community outcomes
- Custom mandates, co-investment rights and reporting
- Governance processes that meet institutional standards
From innovation to infrastructure – supporting growth at every stage
We started with early-stage venture. Then expanded into private equity and SME lending. Then into VCTs. Then into private debt and property finance. Every step was a strategic response to a funding gap. Today, our integrated model means we can support UK companies across their full lifecycle, whether it’s a university spinout, a mid-market buyout or a housing development project.
Whether it’s financing a scaleup in Sheffield or supporting brownfield regeneration in the West Midlands, we deliver at scale and with purpose.