Craft and hobby specialist has designs on US expansion following six figure NPIF - FW Capital Debt Finance investment

A six figure investment from NPIF - FW Capital Debt Finance, part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF), is helping Debbi Moore Designs expand in the US.

The Darlington-based specialised craft supplier and manufacturer develops and sells a range of craft materials both wholesale and to the general public.

The business also delivers a wide range of events, exhibitions and trade shows across the year and its digital offer has over 20,000 online subscribers.

Owner Debbi Moore is a well-known celebrity in her field, regularly appearing as a TV demonstrator on Create and Craft TV in the UK and the USA.

The NPIF investment will enable the management team to strengthen its online offer, purchase cutting edge new technology, create four new jobs and launch in the US.

The American craft market is ten times bigger than the UK’s, which according to the 2016 Craft Intelligence Report, is worth £3.4bn to the British economy.

Debbi Moore, Founder and MD of Debbi Moore Designs, said: “I am very excited to have this amazing opportunity to expand both in the UK as well as the USA.  It has enabled my company to grow in areas that I had not thought possible and this couldn’t have happened without obtaining the investment.”

Steve Teasdale, investment executive at FW Capital, said: “Debbi Moore Designs is an established company with a solid sales strategy led by an experienced and ambitious management team.

“This investment will enable the company to extend its product offer online and reach a much larger audience, especially as it pushes into the United States.”

Mark Wilcockson, Senior Relationship Manager at British Business Bank, said: “It is pleasing to see NPIF investment continuing to make real differences to businesses across Tees Valley and the wider North. This latest round of funding will give Debbi Moore Designs, a strong northern business, the platform it needs to expand on an international scale.”

Operating from the British Business Bank’s Sheffield head office, the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund provides a mix of debt and equity funding (£25,000 to £2m).  It works alongside ten Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), the combined authorities and Growth Hubs, as well as local accountants, fund managers and banks, to support Northern-based SMEs at all stages of their development.

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.

For more information about Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, please visit http://www.npif.co.uk/.