Finance Yorkshire’s healthy investment

The £90m fund set up by the Government has given Sheffield-based BetterYou a £35,000 loan which has helped the firm to conduct research and gain greater stability.

BetterYou was set up in 2007 to exploit a gap in the market for health and nutritional products. The company, which supplies stores such as Boots and Holland & Barrett, has recorded 40 per cent growth each year.

The company’s founder Andy Thomas and chief executive officer Robin Whitbread turned to Finance Yorkshire to help it grow.

Mr Whitbread said: “We are a business that is growing fast, but for any expanding company one of the first areas that tends to come under pressure is cashflow. The Finance Yorkshire funding meant we were able to increase stock levels and therefore improve product availability.”

David Ward, a portfolio manager at Finance Yorkshire, said: “New product development is the lifeblood of businesses like BetterYou which already exports to 15 countries and is now looking to extend its distribution further, both internationally and across the UK.”

Finance Yorkshire provides seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2m to help small and medium-sized businesses to meet their funding requirements.