---
title: "Fund Management Services for North East Early Stage Equity Fund"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-04b044"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-04b044"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04b044.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04b044.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "THE NORTH EAST FUND LIMITED"
published: "2026-03-20"
---

# Fund Management Services for North East Early Stage Equity Fund

Buyer: THE NORTH EAST FUND LIMITED  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-04b044

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## Summary

The North East Fund Limited has completed the procurement process to award the Fund Management Services for the North East Early Stage Equity Fund. This initiative, targeting banking and investment services, specifically aims to provide venture capital support to early-stage and innovative SMEs in the North East of England, covering areas such as Northumberland, North Tyneside, and Newcastle, amongst others. The procurement was conducted using a Competitive Procedure with Negotiation as per the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, and the contract was awarded to Mercia Regional Ventures Limited with an initial investment of £35 million over five years. This completion was dated 20 March 2026, with the contract signed on 20 October 2025.

The tender offers significant growth opportunities for businesses authorised by the FCA, particularly those specialising in fund management and corporate finance. SMEs in the North East region can leverage this funding to overcome capital limitations and scale their operations, benefiting from a 'patient capital' investment approach that spans up to 25 years. Suitable candidates would be those with strong regional expertise in venture financing and a strategic vision for long-term financial returns. The extended investment period ensures ongoing support and maximises returns, aligning with a broader strategy to foster regional growth and build a competitive business environment in the North East of England.

## Notice

The North East Fund seeks to appoint a professional, FCA authorised fund management organisation to deliver an early stage venture capital fund in the North East of England. The fund will address the persistent market gap in the provision of relatively small amounts of finance to early-stage and innovative SMEs in the North East of England. In so doing, it will help to unlock regional growth, build confidence in the SME business base and ensure the region is a great place to start-up and scale a business. The Fund has the working title of "Early Stage Equity Fund" but its final name will be agreed with the appointed fund manager. TNEFL expects to make an initial commitment of investment capital to the Fund of PS35m, which will be invested over an Initial Investment Period of c.5 years - equating to an average annual investment by the Fund of PS7m during its first five years of operation. This quantum of investment, and the Fund's investment policy detailed below, is consistent with and will address the funding gaps identified by a market evaluation exercise which was undertaken during the first half of 2024. In a significant development compared to previous regional investment funds, the profile of this Fund has been developed with a view to facilitating a more 'patient capital' approach to investment - by making provision for the initial 5 year investment period to be followed by further periods of new (and follow-on) investments which can potentially extend to a further 10 years. This period of up to 15 years in which the Fund can make both new and portfolio investments will be followed by a Realisation Period of up to 10 years, giving a potential contract duration of 25 years in total. This will enable the manager to provide support over a longer period than previous funds, which should be beneficial for the Fund's investee companies and should also help to maximise the financial returns to the Fund. Those returns, and potentially other sources of capital which may be available to TNEFL (for example, from the regional legacy funds overseen by NEA2F) will be used to facilitate the extension of the Fund's investment activity after the initial investment capital commitment of PS35m is fully invested. The extension of investment activity in the Further Investment Periods will be effected by TNEFL providing annual commitments of additional investment capital to the Fund which are expected to be, on average, between PS3m and PS6m. The actual quantum of each annual additional capital commitment will be notified by TNEFL to the manager as far in advance of the start of each one-year Further Investment Period as is possible, to enable the manager to make plans for its utilisation.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

The procurement process was conducted in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended), using the Competitive Procedure with Negotiation as detailed in Regulation 29 of those Regulations. The Purpose of the procurement was to procure the services of a single FCA regulated fund manager. The contract has an initial duration of 10 years but can be extended by up to a further 15 years, to 25 years in total. The contract value stated in this Contract Award Notice is based on the initial 10 year period and the actual amount paid during that period may vary depending on the overall quantum of capital ultimately committed to the fund and on the profile of exits from, and impairments to, portfolio companies.

Options: The contract can potentially last for 25 years but that is based on it being extended during its term, which will be initially for 10 years but - subject to performance, market demand and availability of capital - is expected to be extended by at least 10 years, on the basis set out in the Information Memorandum, and draft contract documents.

Renewal: The contract can potentially last for 25 years but that is based on it being extended during its term, which will be initially for 10 years but - subject to performance, market demand and availability of capital - is expected to be extended by at least 10 years, on the basis set out in the Information Memorandum, and draft contract documents.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/025740-2026 |
| Notice type | Tender Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Selective |
| Procurement method details | Competitive procedure with negotiation |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 20 Mar 2026 |
| Submission deadline | 22 Nov 2024 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 19 Oct 2025 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £19,800,000 |
| Lots value | £19,800,000 |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £6,570,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | THE NORTH EAST FUND LIMITED |
| Locality | NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE |
| Post town | Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Postcode | NE1 3PA |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLC North East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLC4 Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear |
| ITL 3 | TLC43 Tyneside |
| Local authority | Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Electoral ward | Monument |
| Westminster constituency | Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West |
| Delivery location | TLC North East (England) |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | MERCIA REGIONAL VENTURES |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 66 - Financial and insurance services

### Codes

- 66100000 - Banking and investment services
- 66122000 - Corporate finance and venture capital services

## Release History

- 20 Mar 2026 at 12:34 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/025740-2026
- 22 Oct 2024 at 15:07 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/034206-2024

## Notice URLs

- http://www.northeastfund.org
- https://www.northeastfund.org/business-guidance-support/

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-04b044. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04b044.json.