Capital for Enterprise was launched by the government this week. The new small business financing body is tasked with implementing all financing initiatives from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR).

To deliver on these initiatives, the new agency has hired an independent board to run the Department’s seven Enterprise Capital Funds (ECFs), with some £600 million under management. The body is also responsible for the government-backed Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme, which controls £800 million of guaranteed loans.

Chairman David Quysner said the new agency would operate on a commercial basis and is planning to raise a new round of ECFs. The funds use public money to attract private investment into fast-growth companies looking for backing of up to £2 million, including a fund that will invest in women-owned businesses.

BERR was established in June 2007 by Gordon Brown shortly after he became Prime Minister to replace the Department for Trade and Industry.