Funding support helps Cramlington firm land £66m contract

FW Capital’s Jordan McGorrigan and Alison Routledge with Matthew McGrady of Merit Health at the Merit office in Cramlington.
Photo: John Millard/UNP. — FW Capital’s Jordan McGorrigan and Alison Routledge with Matthew McGrady of Merit Health at the Merit office in Cramlington. Photo: John Millard/UNP.

A Cramlington firm has received a financial boost to help it fulfil a new £66million contract.

Specialist healthcare facilities firm Merit Health Ltd has received £2million from the Tees Valley Catalyst Fund (TVCF), which is run by FW Capital.

Merit Health, the specialist healthcare division of offsite construction specialist Merit Holdings, was launched in October 2020 with a focus on delivering healthcare facilities quicker and more sustainably.

The company has already completed a number of projects within the health and life sciences sector, including expansion of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult manufacturing centre in Stevenage, and a new sterile services facility for Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

The investment will allow Merit to fulfil its bond requirements for a contract to design, build and fit out a CAR-T Cell Manufacturing facility, also sited in Stevenage, this time for US organisation, Autolus, in association with developers, Reef Group.

Allison Routledge, investment executive at FW Capital, said: “We are delighted to develop our long-term partnership with Merit Health by providing this investment.

“Merit is a successful and ambitious company that has a strong ESG strategy, delivering low carbon solutions to its clients and this fits with FW Capital’s own strong environmental ethos.

"This significant investment has not only helped to secure a new contract to advance medical science but will also safeguard 70 jobs for the local area.”

Matthew McGrady, Merit Health finance director, said: “Merit is at the forefront of transforming medicine production facilities, collaborating with life science clients to design and build the next generation of industrially innovative facilities for cell and gene manufacturing by using a highly integrated and environmentally friendly approach.

“We are very grateful to FW Capital for their ongoing support.

"This investment will allow us to further the ambition of the cell and gene therapy industry to bring innovative new medicines to patients as quickly as possible.”

Managed by FW Capital, the Tees Valley Catalyst Fund is designed to help companies bid for work and is backed by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund.

It provides loans for performance bond guarantees. Performance bonds provide a financial guarantee to a client that a supplier will deliver on time and to standard.

The fund offers short-term debt investments from £100,000 to £2million to support businesses bidding for contracts.