Tosca Debt Capital secures £40m to back smaller Northern businesses

The fund is targeting a hard-cap (the point at which it will stop fundraising) of £50m.

Predominantly supporting Northern businesses, TDC’s Impact Fund lends between £1-5m to smaller businesses that will create jobs as a result of investment. The sector-agnostic fund, led by Vicki Daly and Gary Davison, aims to utilise the experience, networks and skill-base of TDC to support the development of smaller businesses which would otherwise be unable to access capital to grow, according to a statement.

The fund is focused on successful companies that were profitable prior to the pandemic and aims to provide them with the firepower and support to develop and build value, both within their own businesses and within their wider communities, the firm said.

British Business Investments made a cornerstone commitment of £20m to the fund. British Business Investments is a wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank - it aims to increase the supply and diversity of finance for smaller businesses across the UK, by boosting the lending capacity of a range of finance providers.

Gary Davison, founding partner at TDC, said: “The recent pandemic has adversely impacted every sector of the UK economy and there is no question that smaller businesses have been hit the hardest. We are looking to utilise our resources and investment platform to address that imbalance and provide inherently strong and well-managed SME businesses with support to achieve their strategic growth ambitions. We are committed to staying invested in our community and we hope this new fund will help to address post-pandemic regional imbalances creating new jobs and stimulating growth in the North.”