£37m funding cake in NE England

FARMERS HAVE been urged to come forward to apply for a share of a new £37m investment fund being launched in the northeast of England.

Partnership Investment Finance says it is keen to contact farmers who need money to diversify into tourism or secondary food processing, such as farmhouse ice cream.

PIF chief executive, Jon Harris, said: “We would be delighted to talk to farmers to discuss how the fund can help them grow their businesses as they diversify their activities.”

Those interested should remember PIF is not a grant body, but a commercial company which will expect to make a profit on its investment.

Its resources are a mixture of EU funding, regional development money and private investment, and farmers will have to pay interest on their borrowings.

It is being targeted at those who have exhausted other sources of capital or cannot raise enough commercial funding.

Farm businesses in the Objective 2 area of northeast Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire and the Humber will be eligible.