John Swarbrick is a member of the Strategic Advisory Board for the new Yorkshire Forward Access to Finance for Healthcare Technology Companies programme and a Senior Director of LloydsTSB Development Capital and heads the Leeds office. He talks to Medilink Yorkshire and Humber about the Healthcare possibilities in the region.
Raising funds in the current climate is proving to be a challenge for a large number of start-ups and established companies – but the situation also offers opportunities for those who have the vision and initiative to adapt. Private equity and traditional debt funds have historically been the main sources of finance to help growing businesses, but how do you go about accessing these funds?
The Yorkshire Forward Access to Finance for Healthcare Technology Companies programme featured in the centre pages of Medilink News is just one of the new initiatives established to help ambitious businesses overcome any barriers to funding.
A report commissioned by the programme managers Grant Thornton to mark the launch of the new programme identifies that healthcare technology companies are amongst the best placed to access the opportunities still on offer – a statistic which makes Yorkshire an attractive proposition for potential investors.
Since it was launched in February, the programme has already attracted interest from a wide range of companies demonstrating the level of interest in the region for healthcare technology related investment.
At a time when the Yorkshire economy is at risk of losing a strong pipeline of business stock for the future, there needs to be a sustained effort from all relevant agencies and organisations to establish and finance start ups and support companies seeking growth.