Investment Escalator Project Activities

Tender description

The Investment Escalator (IE) project is part funded through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and aims to support growth in London SMEs by improving their access to finance. The project will provide specific, focused, business support interventions to de-risk investment proposals, articulate growth aspirations and provide a clear business case for investment support. SMEs will be supported in addressing the key barriers they face in accessing investment finance. In general high growth SMEs with less than 250 employees, a turnover of less than €50 million or less than €43 million on balance sheet will be targeted. The project also has more specific eligibility criteria which is outlined in section 4 ‘Specification of requirements’ London South Bank University (LSBU) will lead the project offering tailored support, advice and knowledge through a framework of workshops, boot camps, peer to peer reviews, master classes, and one to one coaching. All eligible SMEs will have a personal Action Plan (generated separately and agreed with their business advisor see section 4) which will be captured within a programme management system or ‘Black Box’. The ERDF IE project has been designed as a framework of interventions for participating businesses to access as required; it is not a generic business support initiative. IE is a demand-led, structured pathway, leading eligible small to medium sized businesses in London through to successfully securing appropriate investment finance. The project has specific targets including at least 200 businesses receiving 12 or more hours of support to address their action plan, 40 plus new jobs created, 24 plus business increasing sales through access to new markets and 20+ businesses securing >£1.2m in new financing, along with the safeguarding of 16 jobs.