Foresight Group closes £60m for Scotland SME fund

Investor Foresight Group has closed over £60m from British Business Investments and the Strathclyde Pension Fund for its fund for Scottish SMEs.

Businesses will receive £1m-£5m debt or equity investments from the group’s second Scotland SME fund. Foresight Group will also increase the headcount of its Scottish team.

Matt Smith, partner, Foresight Group, said: “The fund reflects our commitment to the Scottish market, where we believe there is a funding gap for the provision of capital and expertise to smaller companies.

“We look forward to strengthening our ties with the local business community and further building our local team.”

Foresight Group’s 11th regional fund joins other dedicated funds for the East of England, West Yorkshire, North East, Northern Ireland and Nottingham.

Headquartered in London, Foresight Group has a distributed presence across the UK with offices in Manchester, Leicester, Edinburgh, Milton Keynes, Cambridge and Nottingham.

“The fund is a great opportunity to help growth within small and medium businesses across Scotland, which in turn will create local jobs and attract further investment, supporting economic growth whilst generating strong returns for our pension fund members,” said Ian Jamison, investment manager of Strathclyde Pension Fund.

Founded in 1984, Foresight last year made 94 SME investments and had eight company exits.

British Business Investments recently announced it had committed £350m to venture capital firms and lenders in its year-end results.