Foresight Group, a leading regional private equity and infrastructure investment manager, is looking to invest £100m in ambitious growing companies across South Yorkshire and the North West.
The South Yorkshire region is a key focus for Foresight which has received £15 million investment into its regional fund from South Yorkshire Pension Fund. This fund supports ambitious companies across the North West and South Yorkshire.
Among the businesses Foresight has backed in South Yorkshire is Martek Marine Ltd (“Martek”), a Rotherham-based trusted supplier of safety and crew protection equipment to the global shipping industry.
It has also invested in Dinnington-based, M.R. Machine Knives, which manufactures a range of blades for the food, packaging and processing industries. Foresight has backed Yorkshire-based Roxy Leisure, a competitive socialising bar group operating sites under the Roxy Ballroom, Roxy Lanes and King Pins brands.
The Roxy Ballroom in Sheffield city centre was opened following Foresight’s investment and employs more than 30 people. Previous South Yorkshire Foresight investments include AIM listed Zoo Digital.
Foresight invests in regional growth and buyout deals to support founders, entrepreneurs and management teams to achieve their growth ambitions or release equity from their company. In addition, it invests venture capital funding into innovative, fast-growing companies in the enterprise software, advanced engineering and deep-tech sectors that are looking to scale responsibly at pace.
Rob Jones, director at Foresight Group, said: “Sheffield and the South Yorkshire region is a key growth area for Foresight. From its great industrial heritage, the region is now a hotbed of entrepreneurship and home to cutting-edge companies in the technology, precision manufacturing and engineering sectors which present excellent growth opportunities. We invest in companies across all sectors and transaction types, including management buyouts, management buy-ins, equity release and growth capital.
“With the support of our local authority investment partner, South Yorkshire Pension Fund, we are keen to unlock the potential in the region’s dynamic businesses and meet entrepreneurs, management teams and their advisers to discuss how we can support their growth strategies and realise their ambitions.
“Our investment teams are passionate about the regions we invest in, helping to create jobs and support local communities. We form genuine partnerships with our founders and management teams. It’s not only about investment, we have a large network of experienced contacts and non-executives across many sectors who can support founders and management teams with advice and mentoring to achieve their business ambitions.”
