North West businesses raised £1.23bn in equity investment during 2025, with investment values soaring 82% compared to 2024 despite a sharp fall in the number of deals, according to new figures from the British Business Bank.
The British Business Bank’s latest Small Business Equity Tracker found the region bucked the wider UK trend, where overall equity investment fell 4% to £12.3bn.
But that growth was driven by a smaller number of big fundraises. Deal volumes in the North West dropped by almost a third (32%) to 107 deals over the same period, reflecting how investors are concentrating capital into select growth opportunities.
A major driver was Cheshire AI infrastructure unicorn NScale, which raised almost £1bn across two growth-stage deal rounds during 2025, accounting for around 80% of all equity investment value in the region.
Alongside the North West, Scotland saw a significant increase in equity investment value of 74%.
The report also highlights the continued dominance of AI investment across the UK. AI businesses attracted 44% of all equity investment into smaller businesses in 2025, and accounted for more than a quarter (26%) of all deals.
The North of England made up 12% of the UK’s total equity investment value, rising from 9% in 2024, while the region’s share of total equity investment volume dipped slightly to 12% from 13% over the same period.
Between 2023 and 2025, the British Business Bank supported 15% of smaller business equity deals and 16% of investment across the UK. In the North West, around 7% of the Bank’s equity investment was deployed in the region during that period, ahead of the wider equity market.
Mark Sterritt, Managing Director at British Business Bank Local Growth Team, said: “Despite a slight slowdown in deals across the UK, it’s clear the North West’s equity investment market is still strong with such an impressive uptick in investment value. The region is home to some of the UK’s leading businesses, making it an attractive place to do business and crowd in large sums of investment. However, it’s clear we also need to ensure smaller businesses can access early-stage finance where markets have gone quieter, helping to build the next generation of unicorns.
“Through our own activity at the Bank, we’re ensuring that we play an active role in the equity investment ecosystem, whether that’s through supporting angel syndicates, boosting innovation clusters, or through our own direct activity with NPIF II. This is about supporting businesses in typically underrepresented areas, while helping to crowd in millions in private sector co-investment that businesses may otherwise struggle to access.”
