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Who’s at Helix? | Huw Lewis on the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority’s investment in business growth
Updated: 6 minutes ago
“The absolute lifeblood of the North East business community is the SME sector.”
During the recent BBC Outside Broadcast at Helix, we took the opportunity to catch up with Huw Lewis from the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority to hear more about the investment being made to help businesses across the region grow.
Based at Newcastle Helix, the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority works across areas including skills, transport, investment and tourism. Supporting long-term economic growth across the region is at the heart of its work.
We caught up with Huw to hear more about one of the ways it is supporting businesses through the North East Fund.
An extra £70 million has been committed to the North East Fund, which, working alongside capital from other investment sources, could unlock £350 million over the next 15 years.
The target is to support more than 400 North East companies, with the potential to create 3,500 jobs across the region.
The opportunity spans a real breadth of businesses. There are three funds, each supporting different business needs: one focused on spinouts emerging from the region’s universities, one supporting start-ups and scale-ups, and another helping more established businesses finance their growth plans. As Huw explains, that could mean anything from a Pilates studio or media company to a business developing the next generation of electric vehicle batteries.
Unlike a traditional public sector grant, there isn't a single application deadline. It opens up a new route to investment for North East businesses with ambitions to grow. The investment is designed with the future in mind too. As investments generate returns, money can flow back into the Fund and be reinvested, creating further opportunities to help brilliant North East businesses grow.
A home at Helix
For Huw, being based at Newcastle Helix also puts the organisation amongst the kinds of innovative businesses it wants to see thrive.
For Huw, being based at Newcastle Helix also puts the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority alongside the innovative businesses helping to shape the region’s future.
“We are rubbing up against extraordinary companies and you can feel it here. This is a meeting place and this is the hub of a new North East, and it's exciting to be here.”
That connection to businesses across the region reflects a much bigger ambition, with the Authority focused on long-term decisions that create opportunities, support economic growth and make the North East a better place to live.
Huw's advice to businesses with ambitions to grow? Go to the North East fund website and start that initial conversation, to explore what could be available to you.
