Financial and insurance services

Tender description

This is an award notice and this opportunity is now closed. Please see Section V (Award of Contract) for further details. The Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) are looking to introduce a Growing Business Fund in Hertfordshire to enable growing SMEs to apply for loan and/or grant funds to invest in capital projects to boost capacity and improve productivity. The LEP is therefore looking to procure a professional fund manager to operate a grant and loan scheme requiring the fund manager to develop pipelines of investment propositions and carry out professional due diligence on Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (‘SMEs’) applying for funding. The key features of the fund are: — management of 3 700 000 GBP LEP loan fund, and 2 500 000 GBP ERDF monies, — marketing and promotion of loan and grant scheme to develop investment pipelines, — managing the application process and carrying out professional due diligence on applicants, — monitoring the payments process and progress of applicants projects The LEP will have the final decision on whether to award grants or loans. It is still to be decided whether the fund manager will be required to set up a company or use any other form of special purpose vehicle (this is subject to a bidder setting out an appropriate mechanism for the appropriate management of the fund). The LEP, therefore, invites bids setting out proposals for the efficient management and handling of the fund which best safeguards the public purse (e.g depositing funds in an escrow account under the control of the LEP) and retains final decisions on the release of grant and loan payments with the LEP.