City firms at heart of new venture fund
THE Government is putting City investment firms at the heart of revised proposals to boost small businesses, it emerged at the weekend.
In a change from previous plans that would have created a national network of investing offices, the Department for Business plans to inject private investment and public cash into a fund-of-funds that would use asset managers to invest money in up-and-coming companies.
The fund would help firms needing between £2m and £10m, according to a weekend newspaper report.
The government would be an anchor investor in the plan, which is replacing original proposals to set up a new body modelled on the post-war Industrial & Commercial Finance Corporation (ICFC).