Nigel Griffiths, the Small Business Minister, revealed plans for the pilot “investment readiness demonstration projects,” which will receive £1 million of Small Business Service funding.

The project will find “dynamic small businesses with high-growth potential,” and inform them about what private sector funding is available to them and where to find it. A selection of these companies will be “groomed” to make them “investment ready” and able to present their proposals to prospective investors.

“There are many companies that want to attract new investment but are bewildered by the possibilities and do not have the expertise to present their full potential to possible investors,” said Griffiths. “The investment readiness projects will help these businesses maximise potential investment opportunities by grooming them for success.”

The projects will be run on a regional basis by organisations such as accountant Baker Tilly in London and the Institute of Directors (North) in Yorkshire and the Humber along with the other successful bidders that were announced last week. However, the company selection process will probably not begin for a month or two. The details of how each regional project will operate have not been finalised, as they are still “dotting the ‘i’s and crossing the ‘t’s.”

The other successful bidders for running the regional projects were Entrust in the North East, E-Synergy in the North West, Cambridgeshire Business Services in Eastern England, and Genesis Management Consultants in the West Midlands.