Approaching £45m of investment has been provided to growing businesses in the Greater Manchester area by NPIF - FW Capital Debt Finance, which is managed by FW Capital and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.
The investment has attracted co-investment of over £70m from the private sector resulting in an impact on businesses in the region of over £115m. This is supporting ambitious, high-growth businesses across a wide range of sectors from manufacturing to financial services.
One manufacturing success story which has benefited from the funding is KBF Enterprises who last year received a £750,000 investment. Located at Trafford Park, the business is behind one of the most recognised sports nutrition brands in the UK – Warrior®.
The funding from NPIF - FW Capital has helped the business enjoy significant growth which has resulted in the recent announcement of a £1.75million state-of-the-art factory and acquisition of an additional 10,000 sq. ft warehouse. This is set to accelerate production output by 400%.
Established in 2008 by managing director Kieran Fisher from his bedroom, KBF Enterprises is now on track to achieve sales of £40m this year and employs over 90 people. Its product range is stocked in leading UK retailers including Asda, Tesco and WHSmith, and sold in more than 20,000 locations around the world. Fisher was also announced as one of LDC’s Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders of 2023.
Adam Husband, Senior Investment Executive at FW Capital explains: “KBF Enterprises continue to record impressive growth, leading the way in their sector. This is a great example of how our investment has assisted a high growth and extremely profitable North West business go to the next level. They are just one of many businesses across Manchester who are part of this important funding milestone at NPIF - FW Capital, demonstrating how alternative finance can help businesses realise their ambitions.”
“KBF Enterprises’ success story continues with pace after they recently announced news of their expansion into their new warehouse and factory facilities to support its UK and international activities. I’m delighted to see the funding from last year is making a real difference to their future success.”
Kieran Fisher, Managing Director of KBF Enterprises said: “FW Capital has been fantastic to work with and the investment we received last year has provided a solid platform for the growth of our bestselling Warrior® range. Their backing has helped us to strengthen our manufacturing capabilities and given a significant financial boost towards our new state of the art £2million facilities - to upscale and fuel business growth both in the UK and abroad, holding us in good stead to reach our projected sales of £40million this year.
“Someone now eats a Warrior® protein bar every 3 seconds in the UK - and FW Capital’s support has helped us to make more than 48 million protein bars annually in-house, 4 million tubs of creatine, pre-workout and protein powder and shipping in excess of 3,000 orders a day.”
Keira Shepperson, Director at British Business Bank, said: “I’m delighted to see that FW Capital has reached this milestone in Greater Manchester. The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund and our Fund Managers have played a key role in bringing transformational investment opportunities to businesses in the region. Whether it’s creating new jobs, or helping companies relocate to new premises, businesses such as KBF Enterprises demonstrate that Greater Manchester is a place full of dynamic, resilient and thriving organisations, playing a key role in boosting the economy for the North as a whole.”
NPIF – FW Capital Debt Finance is managed by FW Capital and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund. It can provide loans in the NPIF region with a focus on Cumbria, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside and the Tees Valley.
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.
