Business Enterprise Fund (BEF) has been lending to small businesses which need finance to grow and thrive since 2004.
Its initial social mission was to support businesses in Bradford, particularly those in deprived communities.
14 years later BEF has grown considerably and now covers the wider region of Yorkshire and the North East.
BEF’s new 2018-19 Social Impact report demonstrates its lending has had an enormous, positive effect for businesses, individuals and communities:
- BEF’s lending added £31m to the region’s economy in the last 12 months; over £4 for every £1 it lends.
- “Underserved demographics, geographies and sectors are being supported more than ever,” according to BEF Chair, Malcolm Lynch.
- 40% of all BEF lending is within the region’s lower-layer super output areas – a 6% increase on last year. “That’s 115 individual business loans within communities that are often excluded from mainstream funding,” says BEF CEO, Stephen Waud.
- BEF’s Impact report also maps its contribution to meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). It measures success by the volume of lending attributable to each goal.
- Over the past year BEF has significantly increased support of the UNSDGs for Gender Equality, and Good Health and Well-Being, and increased lending which supports the Goals for Quality Education and Affordable and Clean Energy.
Get all the data and some fantastic case studies about clients supported by BEF: read the 28-page report in full here (pdf) or BEF’s executive summary page here.