Big Issue Invest and TSELF have today announced they are joining forces to create one of the UK’s largest social investment intermediaries – freeing up £8m of investment funds.
TSELF (The Social Enterprise Loan Fund) will now operate as part of Big Issue Invest (BII), the social investment arm of the Big Issue. The merger will allow for a combined total of £8m to be immediately available for investment as individual loans or equity-like investment in amounts ranging from £50,000 to £1m.
Both organisations are community development finance institutions (CDFIs) with a history of investing in and providing loans to social enterprises and charities.
BII, led by social entrepreneurs and experienced social financiers, provides funding to help scale up social enterprises and charities throughout the UK.
Formerly called the Local Investment Fund, TSELF was set up in 1995 by the then-Department for Employment, Transport and the Regions, Business in the Community and the private sector, with the aim of overcoming the funding gap often experienced by social enterprises. Its various regional funds were called Community Loan Funds.
To date, BII and TSELF have invested in 185 enterprises and distributed over £18.5m in loans and investments.
Making sense to merge
"It makes sense to join forces, allowing us to broaden and strengthen our offering," said Nigel Kershaw, CEO of BII. "This means a greater range of expertise, flexibility and most importantly impact. It will also allow us to attract additional funding into the sector.
"We owe a debt of thanks to all those social enterprises that have come to us for finance. As TSELF and Big Issue Invest are social enterprises ourselves this has allowed us to reinvest even more into the sector rather than pay out dividends and bonuses."
Mike Baker, TSELF's chief executive, added: “Through our extensive track record of investing in organisations working in disadvantaged communities across the UK, TSELF has developed strong regional knowledge of what financial support is needed and what works.
"Working together with BII will allow us to continue to grow and share that knowledge and better serve the social enterprise and charity sectors.”
