The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) has provided £200,000 worth of debt funding to Power Body Nutrition Limited, a wholesale distributor of nutrition and sports supplements. This marks one of NPIF’s first investment in the York area since its launch earlier this year.
The investment was made by NPIF – Enterprise Ventures Debt Finance, an NPIF product fund managed by Enterprise Ventures.
Established in 2008, Dunnington-based Power Body Nutrition has grown to become one of the UK’s leading suppliers of nutrition and sports supplements to shops and gyms across Europe as well as the UK. It currently works with some of the largest brands in its sector, including Glanbia, Dymatize and Now Foods. With revenues increasing to over £12m in 2016, the company moved to a larger premise last year to handle new levels of stock.
Power Body Nutrition will use the investment to purchase a new IT system and assist with stock purchase, as demand for its products from overseas customers continues to increase. The company is also looking to open up new sales channels by offering its customers a broader range of products.
The company currently employs over 40 members of staff, and is looking to create an additional six jobs over the course of the loan period.
Power Body Nutrition was introduced to Enterprise Ventures by Martin Bell of Red Sky who also assisted the company with their application.
Agata Milewska, Business Development Manager at Power Body Nutrition, said: “This new funding has presented us with an opportunity to transform our business and put it in a strong position for future growth. By expanding our product range, we can entice new customers with our services and grow our client base. We’re thankful to NPIF – Enterprise Ventures Debt Finance for this vital funding and we’re excited to see the progression of the business over the course of the facility.”
Ian Atkinson, Investment Manager at Enterprise Ventures, part of Mercia Technologies PLC, which manages the fund, said: “We are delighted to support Power Body Nutrition with this investment as it plans to secure new talent in the team and expand its customer base across the UK and Europe. It’s great to see strong business growth from companies within the York region, which is one of Enterprise Ventures’ key areas of focus.”
Sean Hutchinson, Senior Manager at British Business Bank, said: “We are proud to be completing our first investments in the York area. We’re seeing all of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund geography benefitting from this new source of funding, and we are making a difference to those small businesses in the North that so desperately need working capital to expand.”
David Dickson, Chair of the Infrastructure Board for the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Enterprise Partnership, said: “This is exactly the kind of business investment that our LEP is keen to support. The York, North Yorkshire and East Riding LEP region is home to some great businesses. We are there to support SME’s to grow through our business support programmes, and we believe the Growth Hub operating through the How’s Business structure will make it easier for ambitious, growing businesses to access appropriate support.”
Operating from the British Business Bank’s Sheffield head office, the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund provides a mix of debt and equity funding (£25,000 to £2m). It works alongside 10 Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), the combined authorities and Growth Hubs, as well as local accountants, fund managers and banks, to support Northern-based SMEs at all stages of their development.
The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.
For more information about Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, please visit www.npif.co.uk