Social enterprise boosts Yorkshire economy by £31m
A Yorkshire social enterprise has boosted the region’s economy by £31m in the last 12 months.
The Business Enterprise Fund (BEF), which has an office in Leeds, made the announcement as part of its annual social impact report. The report showed the not-for-profit organisation has loaned £7.08m in the last year, helped to create 175 new UK businesses and generated or safeguarded 820 jobs. It also increased lending to female entrepreneurs by 9 per cent to 36 per cent of all its loans.
Steve Waud, chief executive, said: “At BEF we remain dedicated in our role to supporting under-represented yet tenacious SMEs across the North, who don’t necessarily have the same level of investment available to their counterparts in the South.
“The economic impact our lending continues to generate is something we are hugely proud of at BEF.”