Current Investments
We invest in innovative companies at all stages and across all sectors. Our investments range from £250,000 to £8 million per company.
Please click on arrows to sort and re-order the list:
| Company Name | Sector | Stage | Funds |
|---|---|---|---|
| B2 Group | Services | Early Expansion | Northwest Interim Venture Capital Fund |
| Belgravium Technologies | Computer Hardware | Development | BSC VCT |
| Brulines | Services | Expansion | BSC VCT |
| Byotrol | Chemical materials | Start up | NWBIS |
| Cambridge Cognition | Software | Early Expansion | BSC VCT |
| Caterplus | Services | Development | BSC VCT / BSTC VCT2 |
| CBG Group | Services | Development | NWBIS |
| Connaught | Services | Development | BSC VCT |
| Darwin Rhodes Group | Services | Follow on | BSC VCT / Chandos Fund |
| Datalase | Industrial Products | Early Stage | NWBIS |
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B2 Group
- Fund:
- Northwest Interim Venture Capital Fund
- Location:
- Manchester
- Type:
- Services
- Year:
- 2010
- Stage:
- Early Expansion
B2 Group is an innovative business-to-business marketing company that is able to successfully complete that challenge on behalf of its corporate customers in contrast with existing B2B data suppliers, whose commoditised offerings do not provide economical access.
Belgravium Technologies
- Fund:
- BSC VCT
- Location:
- Bradford
- Type:
- Computer Hardware
- Year:
- 2005
- Stage:
- Development
Belgravium has been supplying Mobile Computing solutions to the logistics sector for over two decades. Specialising in the design and supply of rugged mobile devices, their solutions also include sophisticated software for a wide variety of warehouse and supply chain.
Brulines
- Fund:
- BSC VCT
- Location:
- Stockton-on-Tees
- Type:
- Services
- Year:
- 2006
- Stage:
- Expansion
Brulines core product, Dispense Monitoring, records the exact volume of liquid that passes to each fount at any minute, of any hour, on any day. It recognises the brand performance of draught beers, ciders, lagers, spirits and post mix — and helps licencees maintain an effective line-cleaning regime.
Byotrol
- Fund:
- NWBIS
- Location:
- Manchester
- Type:
- Chemical materials
- Year:
- 2005
- Stage:
- Start up
Byotrol is based in Manchester and was established in 1999 to develop a unique range of sanitising products initially for the healthcare, food processing and industrial sectors. Byotrol's products work on two levels by eradicating micro organisms on application and then provide continuing protection as a result of their surface-active properties, which disrupts the bio film formation process necessary for micro organism reproduction.
The NWBIS investment has facilitated Byotrol's move to AIM.
Cambridge Cognition
- Fund:
- BSC VCT
- Location:
- Cambridge
- Type:
- Software
- Year:
- 2002
- Stage:
- Early Expansion
Cambridge Cognition develops and markets CANTAB®, the world's leading cognitive testing battery. Cambridge Cognition Ltd supplies its products and services to the pharmaceutical industry and academic researchers across the globe.
Caterplus
- Fund:
- BSC VCT / BSTC VCT2
- Location:
- Watford
- Type:
- Services
- Year:
- 2007
- Stage:
- Development
Caterplus is a specialist supplier of catering services to the residential and care home sector. Operating throughout the UK, the company has won a major contract with a local authority supplying catering services to local schools.
CBG Group
- Fund:
- NWBIS
- Location:
- London
- Type:
- Services
- Year:
- 2008
- Stage:
- Development
CBG Group specialise in insurance, financial planning and other financial products for the SME market CBG offer a range of services principally in the area of Commercial Insurance, Business Risk Management, Healthcare and Employee Benefits. In addition CBG offer a Private Client solution to individuals centred on wealth management and asset protection.
Connaught
- Fund:
- BSC VCT
- Location:
- Sidmouth
- Type:
- Services
- Year:
- 1998
- Stage:
- Development
Connaught operates as a facilities management and integrated property services group, engaged in building maintenance, light refurbishment, commercial fitting-out and electrical work and, since 2007, compliance services.
Darwin Rhodes Group
- Fund:
- BSC VCT / Chandos Fund
- Location:
- London
- Type:
- Services
- Year:
- 2008
- Stage:
- Follow on
Darwin Rhodes is an international recruitment firm specialising in the actuarial, insurance and compliance markets. The business is currently expanding its network of offices across Asia, eastern Europe and the US.
Datalase
- Fund:
- NWBIS
- Location:
- Manchester
- Type:
- Industrial Products
- Year:
- 2008
- Stage:
- Early Stage
DataLase produces a pigment which is used to create an ink that can then be printed as a 'patch' onto a product. Materials such as corrugated board, PET, PP, metal, glass where a laser code is either impossible or gives a very poor result can now be laser coded using the DataLase patch with a high contrast, easily readable, cost effective code.
Datascape Online
- Fund:
- NWBIS
- Location:
- Manchester
- Type:
- Computer software
- Year:
- 2004
- Stage:
- Development
Datascape Online launched a remote backup service in 2003 for businesses wishing to protect their critical data and a range of data recovery, network and data centre services to help customers reduce IT costs, increase efficiency and ensure business continuity under any circumstances.
Deep Secure
- Fund:
- Chandos Fund / BSC VCT / BSTC VCT2
- Location:
- Reading
- Type:
- Computer software
- Year:
- 2009
- Stage:
- MBI
Deep-Secure's market leading products protect against threats to security via high defence network border gateway technology, which enables customers to maintain network separation and apply content inspection so as to defend sensitive and protected information from intruders.
Didsbury Engineering
- Fund:
- NWBIS
- Location:
- Manchester
- Type:
- Manufacturing
- Year:
- 2003
- Stage:
- BIMBO
Didsbury designs and manufactures a range of hydraulic lifting or manual winch devices used in the handling of aircraft components, personnel and other high value or sensitive loads.
Digital Healthcare
- Fund:
- BSTC VCT2
- Location:
- Cambridge
- Type:
- Healthcare
- Year:
- 2004
- Stage:
- Late expansion
Digital Healthcare is a leading healthcare information technology provider that delivers software solutions that address some of the World's fastest growing healthcare issues.
Founded in Cambridge UK in 2000 to provide image management and storage solutions for the Ophthalmology sector, the company has extended its product range and expanded into new International territories based on its core competencies in Clinical Information and Patient Care Management and is now a leading provider to the NHS in the UK, a major supplier to US physicians and has solutions in use within some of the Worlds' leading Eye Institutions.
EA Technology Ventures
- Fund:
- NWBIS
- Location:
- Manchester
- Type:
- Energy
- Year:
- 2009
- Stage:
- Early Stage
EA Technology Ventures takes bright ideas in the energy industry off the drawing board and into the market place. The company is part of the EA Technology Group, one of the World's Leading Power Asset Management Companies with a world-class reputation for delivering innovative business solutions to companies which supply, distribute and use energy.
Ellfin Home Care
- Fund:
- BSC VCT / BSTC VCT2 / The Chandos Fund / NWBIS
- Location:
- Oldham
- Type:
- Healthcare
- Year:
- 2007
- Stage:
- Expansion
Ellfin Home Care has a buy and build strategy to construct a North West based group of domiciliary care businesses. The company provides home based care to the elderly and disabled who wish to live in the community and, with over 300 care staff, is one of the leading care providers in the North West.
Fishawack
- Fund:
- BSC VCT / Chandos Fund
- Location:
- Knutsford
- Type:
- Services
- Year:
- 2008
- Stage:
- MBO
Fishawack is a specialist medical communications agency with a reputation for providing high quality support services to its clients, which include, GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, Pfizer, Bayer Schering and CSL Behring.
FreshTL
- Fund:
- North West Interim Venture Capital Fund
- Location:
- Cheshire
- Type:
- Computer software
- Year:
- 2010
- Stage:
- Development
FreshTL's vision is to deliver software and solutions that match this exacting standard. The founding directors of FreshTL have had many years experience of running both private and public companies in both good and challenging times. They understand that businesses today demand new ways of operating, ways in which they can ameliorate cash outflows and where costs can be scrutinised daily, even across many projects.
Gentronix
- Fund:
- NWBIS
- Location:
- Manchester
- Type:
- Biotechnology
- Year:
- 2005
- Stage:
- Development
Gentronix is a UMIST spin-out company and an innovative biotechnology company helping to accelerate the pace of drug discovery in the pharmaceutical industry. Gentronix's first product, called GreenScreen, is a novel pre-regulatory screening assay for use at the hits-to-lead and early lead optimisation stages of the drug discovery process. GreenScreen also has application in the environmental monitoring area.
GOoutdoors
- Fund:
- BSC VCT
- Location:
- Sheffield
- Type:
- Retail
- Year:
- 1998
- Stage:
- MBO
"YFM supported us in the acquisition of our first ever store. We have been working on a roll out formula for the last 11 years. With the success of the last few years, the present market conditions and the opportunities available, we are now in a position to increase our presence in the market for outdoor retailing - camping ,trekking , running, fishing, biking, climbing and skiing. We have unique stores trading out of up to 60,000 sq feet and we are looking to add 10 more this year taking us to 28 by the end of 2010" Paul Caplan, Chairman
GOoutdoors is a retailer of outdoor clothing and equipment. BSC VCT backed the buyout in 1998 and invested again in 2002. The business now has more than 20 stores, over a million discount card holders and over 1500 staff. GOoutdoors continues to roll out new stores across the UK.
Hargreaves Services
- Fund:
- BSC VCT
- Location:
- Durham
- Type:
- Industrial Products
- Year:
- 2004
- Stage:
- MBO
Hargreaves has established itself as the largest independent bulk haulage company in Britain. The group has a national network of depots and facilities, and specialises in waste haulage and supplying and processing carbon-based minerals. Hargreaves floated on the aim market in 2005.
Harris Hill
- Fund:
- BSC VCT / Chandos Fund
- Location:
- Kingston-upon-Thames
- Type:
- Recruitment
- Year:
- 2007
- Stage:
- MBI
Harris Hill is a niche recruitment business with a strong reputation for providing excellent permanent and temporary recruitment solutions to the charity and not for profit sectors.
Harvey Jones
- Fund:
- BSC VCT / BSTC VCT2 / Chandos Fund
- Location:
- London
- Type:
- Retail
- Year:
- 2007
- Stage:
- MBO
Harvey Jones is a long established business with a strong reputation for the quality of its kitchens. The business manufactures most of the kitchens and furniture in its own UK joinery and sells through its chain of retail showrooms in London and provincial towns.
Hexagon Human Capital
- Fund:
- BSC VCT
- Location:
- London
- Type:
- Recruitment
- Year:
- 2007
- Stage:
- Expansion
Hexagon Human Capital was established in 2004 with a strategy to develop a market leading business providing leadership and senior management talent through two primary services; Senior interim management and executive search. The Group now comprises 6 high quality businesses operating across a broad range of sectors.
Intamac
- Fund:
- The Chandos Fund
- Location:
- London
- Type:
- Internet computing
- Year:
- 2010
- Stage:
- Development
Intamac has developed a web-based platform that enables a broad range of new products and interactive services for consumers to remotely monitor and control their home environment. This platform has been designed to work with a new generation of intelligent household devices, such as home security alarms, door locks, IP cameras, electrical appliances and even utility meters, which can send and receive information via a household's broadband connection.
K3 Business Technology
- Fund:
- BSC VCT / NWBIS
- Location:
- Colne
- Type:
- Software
- Year:
- 2007
- Stage:
- Expansion
Established in 2001, K3 supplies, installs and supports Microsoft based business planning and management software principally to retailers and manufacturers achieving both organic and acquisitive growth.
KDC Contractors
- Fund:
- BSC VCT / The Chandos Fund
- Location:
- Manchester
- Type:
- Services
- Year:
- 2008
- Stage:
- MBO
KDC is a decommissioning, demolition and remediation specialist. Their operations are based around the decommissioning, dismantling, removal of high hazardous materials such as chemicals, asbestos and other contaminates, demolition and remediation of sites principally in the nuclear, petrochemical and pharmaceutical markets.
Lightmain
- Fund:
- BSC VCT
- Location:
- Rotherham
- Type:
- Manufacturing
- Year:
- 2010
- Stage:
- MBO / MBI
Lightmain supplies Multi Use Games Areas (MUGAs), skate parks, playgrounds, shelters and street furniture through its Leisure Division. Together with the products supplied through its' Engineering & Construction Divisions Lightmain is able to offer a total solution, including bespoke if required.
They started life in steel fabrication making highly reliable and durable equipment to work in the hostile underground environment of the mining industry. With the collapse of that industry, Lightmain has, since 1991, used these skills to build product to satisfy a growing demand for street and leisure furniture. Since then, in response to customer demand and mainly through recommendation, Lightmain has expanded its’ range to encompass many of the requirements of Local Government and commercial organisations.
Manchester Metronet
- Fund:
- NWBIS
- Location:
- Manchester
- Type:
- Telecommunications
- Year:
- 2004
- Stage:
- Development
Manchester Metronet has launched the first independent local loop service within the M60 area of Manchester. This will enable end users to have wireless access to the internet through broadband offering many advantages over its competitors.
Medical Device Innovations
- Fund:
- NWBIS
- Location:
- Daresbury
- Type:
- Medical Devices
- Year:
- 2004
- Stage:
- Early Expansion
MDi is the first medical device incubator in Europe. MDi acquires medical inventions and progresses them to clinical trial stage. Current projects included in the MDi portfolio are in the field of radiology, cancer treatment, orthopedic/plastic surgery and emergency medicine.
Millbrook Scientific Instruments
- Fund:
- NWBIS
- Location:
- Blackburn
- Type:
- Electronics
- Year:
- 2004
- Stage:
- Development
The company designs and manufactures unique desktop instrumentation to analyse the chemical, mechanical and optical properties of thin films and surface coatings.
Nanoco
- Fund:
- NWBIS
- Location:
- Manchester
- Type:
- Nanotechnology
- Year:
- 2005
- Stage:
- Start up
Nanoco Technologies was established in October 2001 and is a spin out from the University of Manchester.
Nanoco develops Quantum Dots and applications based on Quantum Dots. Quantum dots nano-sized particles of fluorescent semiconductor material whose small size results in unique chemical, electronic and optical properties. They are a platform technology which can be applied to a range of Description applications including: anti-counterfeiting tags, next generation displays, solar cells and biological imaging.
The company floated on AiM in 2009.
Pressure Technologies
- Fund:
- BSC VCT
- Location:
- Sheffield
- Type:
- Industrial Products
- Year:
- 2007
- Stage:
- Expansion
The Company specialises in the manufacture of ultra-large high pressure cylinders for the offshore oil and gas industry. Pressure Technologies was admitted to the Alternative Investment Market in June 2007.
Primal Pictures
- Fund:
- BSC VCT
- Location:
- London
- Type:
- Healthcare
- Year:
- 2001
- Stage:
- Development
Primal Pictures has developed a complete range of high quality anatomical CD-ROMs aimed at healthcare professionals, ranging from medical students to orthopaedic surgeons. Images derived from X-ray, magnetic resonance and other scan data have enabled the production of a completely authentic anatomical model of the human body.
Provexis
- Fund:
- NWBIS
- Location:
- Manchester
- Type:
- Consumer Products
- Year:
- 2005
- Stage:
- Early Expansion
Provexis was formed in June 2005 via the merger of Provexis Limited and Nutrinnovator Holdings plc. Provexis develops and commercialises functional foods and drinks based on strong scientific research that deliver significant health benefits. The Sirco juice drink, the first product from the new company, is proven to help maintain a healthy heart and benefit the circulation. The product will carry an on-label claim to this effect.
Reaxa
- Fund:
- NWBIS
- Location:
- Manchester
- Type:
- Chemical materials
- Year:
- 2007
- Stage:
- Early Expansion
Reaxa provides metal catalyst and scavengers targeted at the Pharmaceutical and Fine Chemicals sectors. The principal product offering is novel catalyst technology, "EnCat," that microencapsulates and traps the catalyst's metal component to deliver cleaner products and effluents, significantly more cost effectively than existing competitive products. The funding will expand the commercial resources and "bulk"-scale production of the EnCat polymer encapsulated catalyst.
RMS Group
- Fund:
- BSC VCT / BSTC VCT2 / Chandos Fund
- Location:
- Goole
- Type:
- Services
- Year:
- 2007
- Stage:
- MBO / MBI
Based on the UK's busiest trading estuary, the River Humber, RMS Group provides shipping, stevedoring, storage/warehousing and supporting logistics services for both import and export cargoes moving between Northern Europe, Scandinavia and the Baltic, Russia, the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean.
Sheet Piling (UK)
- Fund:
- BSC VCT
- Location:
- Preston
- Type:
- Construction
- Year:
- 2000
- Stage:
- Development
Sheet Piling is one of the UK’s leading driven steel piling contractors carrying out contracts throughout the UK for a variety of sectors using its ‘state of the art’ equipment.
Silistix
- Fund:
- NWBIS / BSTC VCT2
- Location:
- Manchester
- Type:
- Computing
- Year:
- 2003
- Stage:
- Start up
Silistix is based in Manchester Science Park and is developing asynchronous silicon chip technology. This technology offers the potential of simplifying chip design issues as well as lowering energy consumption, with implications for battery life and reducing the problem of heat dissappation.
Straight
- Fund:
- BSC VCT
- Location:
- Leeds
- Type:
- Industrial Products
- Year:
- 2004
- Stage:
- Development
Straight supplies plastic container solutions manufactured from recycled materials. The company’s products are utilised for the collection, storage or transportation of source separated waste.
Surface Transforms
- Fund:
- NWBIS
- Location:
- Frodshom
- Type:
- Industrial Products
- Year:
- 2004
- Stage:
- Early Expansion
The company develops and manufactures carbon ceramic materials which are primarily used for braking systems in the automotive and aerospace industries.
Tikit Group
- Fund:
- BSC VCT
- Location:
- London
- Type:
- Software
- Year:
- 2001
- Stage:
- Development
Tikit Group is a provider of consultancy services and software solutions principally to the IT departments of top law firms. The company also provides a range of document and knowledge management tools to a majority of the top 50 UK legal practices.
Vindon Healthcare
- Fund:
- NWBIS
- Location:
- Rochdale
- Type:
- Manufacturing
- Year:
- 2007
- Stage:
- Development
Vindon Healthcare manufacture environmentally controlled storage rooms for the pharmaceutical, life sciences and food sectors together with the provision of related services. Operating successfully for almost 40 years, Vindon’s product range now comprises items such as controlled environment rooms and cabinets, incubators, blood storage equipment, fridges and freezers. In addition, Vindon manufacture more specialist systems for pharmaceutical, plant growth and dye testing research.