FW Capital has backed an expanding North East energy consultancy’s plans to create new jobs in the Tees Valley and open up new revenue opportunities with a six-figure investment from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF).
Cenergist is a specialist energy and water efficiency company working across the UK and Europe with public and private clients that are looking to achieve energy and financial savings.
The business is aiming to grow its work with the major energy companies around the government’s ‘affordable warmth’ obligation, which requires them to help vulnerable and low-income households to reduce their heating costs.
Cenergist has created four new jobs in setting up a new office in Billingham which will undertake this work, and expects to create a further four in the near future as it builds towards substantially increasing its revenues from affordable warmth work.
A £515,000 investment from NPIF – FW Capital Debt Finance, managed by FW Capital, has enabled Cenergist to set up the new Tees Valley office and bring in the skilled personnel required to run it.
James Waring, finance director at Cenergist, says: “Our strong links with the major energy firms, allied to the technical knowledge within the business, leaves us ideally placed to help them meet their affordable warmth responsibilities.
“We’ve enhanced our existing skills base by bringing in new staff that can deliver on the energy companies’ obligations, and we’re already seeing demand growing for our new services.”
Mitesh Dhanak, managing director at Cenergist, adds: “We’re expecting to create even more new Tees Valley jobs as we work towards building significant turnover from this new area of operation within the next 18 months.
“Our previous experience of working with FW Capital showed they were very practical and proactive people to deal with, and the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund investment was a natural fit with our requirements.”
Cenergist has been working with FW Capital since 2015. The first investment was another six-figure loan from the fully-invested North East Growth Plus Fund to enable them to become the exclusive distributor for a money-saving smart shower device.
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “Cenergist is exactly the type of company that is crucial to the economic regeneration of Tees Valley. It is expanding and creating high-quality jobs and the investment from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund is supporting these aims.
“This is yet another good news story for Tees Valley and I would encourage others to explore the help, advice and support that is available to ambitious companies through this and many other schemes.”
Keith Charlton, investment executive at FW Capital, adds: “As an existing investor, we are delighted to back Cenergist again to help them with their latest plans. They have a highly experienced management team and an excellent industry track record.
“Their plans to create new jobs and revenues formed the basis of a strong business case for investment and we’re pleased to have extended our working relationship.”
Ken Cooper, Managing Director at British Business Bank, said: “We are pleased that NPIF through FW Capital have provided Cenergist with the support it needs to pursue further growth. This investment demonstrates the strong appetite for funding in the Tees Valley region and the diligent work by our fund managers in seeking out high-growth businesses to invest in.”
Operating from the British Business Bank’s Sheffield head office, the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund provides a mix of debt and equity funding (£25,000 to £2m). It works alongside ten Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), the combined
authorities and Growth Hubs, as well as local accountants, fund managers and banks, to support Northern-based SMEs at all stages of their development.
The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.