Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL) was a

limited company In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

owned by the

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills , type = Department , logo = Department for Business, Innovation and Skills logo.svg , logo_width = 200px , logo_caption = , picture = File:Лондан. 2014. Жнівень 26.JPG , seal = , se ...

(BIS). CfEL was responsible for managing BIS's financial schemes, such as

venture capital fund Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which hav ...

s and

loan guarantee A loan guarantee, in finance, is a promise by one party (the guarantor) to assume the debt obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults. A guarantee can be limited or unlimited, making the guarantor liable for only a portion or all of the d ...

s, aimed at helping

small and medium enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by international organizations such as the World Bank ...

(SMEs). It invested over £1.8 billion from its formation and alongside private capital provided £6.5 billion in credit for SMEs. It ceased operating independently on 1 October 2013 and became part of the

British Business Bank British Business Bank plc (BBB) is a state-owned economic development bank established by the UK Government. Its aim is to increase the supply of credit to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as providing business advice services. It is ...

History

CfEL commenced actively trading on 1 April 2008 when it took over responsibility for the management of BIS's

Enterprise Capital Fund Enterprise Capital Funds are financial schemes established by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) in the United Kingdom to address a market weakness in the provision of equity finance to UK small and medium enterprises (SMEs ...

s, along with other equity funds and the

Small Firms Loan Guarantee The Small Firms Loan Guarantee (SFLG) was a UK government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , ...

British Business Bank

In September 2012 the

Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills The secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The incumbent is a memb ...

Vince Cable Sir John Vincent Cable (born 9 May 1943) is a British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham from 1997 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019. He also served in the Cabinet a ...

, announced that the government would be creating a business bank to aid the growth of SMEs. The intention was for the bank to work with the private sector to increase the supply of credit, as well as provide advice to SMEs. On 1 October 2013 CfEL was brought into BIS, together with BIS SME policy teams and private sector expertise, to create the

Financial schemes

CfEL managed a number of schemes on behalf of BIS, both current open schemes and legacy schemes that had stopped making new investments.

Current schemes

s. ECFs provide investments of up to £2 million to fast growing businesses. Public money is invested alongside private capital into a number of different funds. There are currently 12 ECFs. * UK Innovation Investment Fund. A venture capital fund of funds that invests in technology based businesses where there are significant growth opportunities. *

Enterprise Finance Guarantee The Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) is a UK government-guaranteed lending scheme intended to help smaller viable businesses who may be struggling to secure finance, by facilitating bank loans of between £1,000 and £1 million. It is intended ...

. Offers loan guarantees from the UK Government to lenders offering credit to SMEs. * Aspire Fund. A fund supporting women-led businesses in the UK. * JEREMIE Funds. Regional based investments funded from the

European Regional Development Fund The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is one of the European Structural and Investment Funds allocated by the European Union. Its purpose is to transfer money from richer regions (not countries), and invest it in the infrastructure and se ...

and the

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the EU Member States. It is one of the largest supranational lenders in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt solutions ...

. * Business Finance Partnership. Supplies capital through non-bank lending channels.

Legacy schemes

* Regional Venture Capital Fund * UK High Technology Fund * Early Growth Funds * Capital for Enterprise Fund * Portfolio of regional funds established by regional development agencies

Management

CfEL was managed by an independent Board of Directors appointed by BIS.

References

{{reflist

External links

Capital for Enterprise Limited official website
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Defunct public bodies of the United Kingdom Finance in the United Kingdom Venture capital