Peratech gets funding for Yorkshire operations

Chief Financial and Operations Officer of the Brompton on Swale headquartered company Doug Balderston said: "We're in a strong position in that we don't need the money now as we're capable of organic growth through the customers and contracts we currently have. "But the technology sector grows very fast so leaving it to organic growth alone puts us at a disadvantage because it risks being left behind by competitors. At the moment, we don't have any competitors, but that's not to say we won't have in the future. "We have used equity or loan investments in the past, but the mezzanine investment deal helps take into account where we will be in the next three to five years and was therefore a better fit for our business model and strategy than perhaps a straightforward equity investment may have been." "In the next three to five years, we expect to grow our customer base and increase the value of the business to in excess of £100m. "We already have a number of significant contracts around the world including Japan and the U.S which are being managed by our in-house team very effectively. However, we have a desire to grow further and attract more contracts and to do that we need to expand our operations and invest in resources, staff and research and development. "The Finance Yorkshire investment will help us take on more staff and expand further into our office space. We are also building an advanced laboratory to facilitate enhanced production." The project is supported financially by the European Union. It has attracted £30 million investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of Europe's support for the region's economic development through the Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme, £15 million from Yorkshire Forward's Single Programme, and £45 million match funding from the European Investment Bank.