Bridges Ventures

The award was recognition of a remarkable 12 months of fundraising success for the company. Bridges Ventures closed its oversubscribed second fund, Bridges Community Development Venture (CDV) Fund II, in June on £75m, beating its original target of £50m by 50% and its original hard cap of £60m.

Unlike the first fund which was made up from a combination of private and government investment, Bridges CDV Fund II was made up entirely from private investment.

Bridges Ventures invests in ambitious entrepreneurial businesses that can deliver social or environmental benefits as well as attractive financial returns. These fall into two categories: regeneration businesses, which are located in the most deprived areas of the UK where its money will help to bring prosperity and create/save jobs; and sustainable businesses, which are able to demonstrate strong intrinsic social benefit in sectors such as healthcare, education, the environment and ethical business.

The fund attracted a diverse and impressive collection of investors. These include banks and financial institutions such as HSBC, Co-operative Financial Services, Citigroup, Lloyds TSB and Barclays Business Banking; pension funds such as West Midlands Pension Fund, South Yorkshire Pension Fund, and the University Superannuation Scheme (USS), Trusts and endowments such as Comic Relief, All Souls College, Merton College and the R&S Cohen Foundation; private equity companies such as 3i and Doughty Hanson and Co., and a number of individuals such as Lloyd Dorfman, chairman of Travelex, and Jon Moulton, founder and managing partner of Alchemy Partners.

Commenting on the award, Philip Newborough from Bridges said:

"We are very pleased that our fundraising work was recognised by the judging panel. The success and popularity of the second fund reinforces our belief that investors are attracted by the idea of making strong financial returns while also making a positive social impact."