London businesses received £685m from future fund
London-based businesses claimed 61 per cent of the £1.12bn that was delivered to companies via the government-backed future fund.
According to new statistics from the British Business Bank, the vast majority of these funds were delivered to London-based firms, in line with the wider market trends for equity investments.
Companies headquartered in the South East and South West claimed a 15 per cent share of the future fund, while 11 per cent went to companies in the North West, North East and Yorkshire and the Humber. Seven per cent went to companies based in the East of England, and four per cent went to firms based in the Midlands.
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Just three per cent of future fund money was distributed to businesses based in the devolved nations of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
The future fund closed to new applications on 31 January, after delivering £1.12bn to innovative companies via convertible loan agreements. The scheme was launched in May 2020.
In a review of the diversity of the scheme, the British Business Bank found that of the 1,140 companies which were approved and received their convertible loan agreements for signature, 78 per cent had mixed gender senior management teams.
Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) only and mixed ethnicity management teams accounted for 57 per cent of funding under the scheme, worth £592.4m.
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