Fast Company Programme 2 returns to help creative companies with the knowledge and skills to secure much needed capital for growth, first event 8 December 2010 at Vision+Media.

Fast Company Programme 2’s marketing launch will be at Liverpool’s Software City 25 November 2010.

Pembridge Partners return to give expert advice to NW creative companies on how to make their company and products as investible as possible.

Software City’s Steve Smith joins the programme to mentor companies and link to the wider tech/startup/investment community in the North West.

Creative and digital industry support body Vision+Media will kick off the return of their access to finance and investor readiness programme for creative and digital companies at Software City in Liverpool 25 November. The first Fast Company Programme 2 event (8 December at Vision+Media HQ), will introduce the programme and give an overview of financing and investment opportunities in the current market.

The programme aims to provide the critical link between the best creative businesses with real potential for growth and the various sources of finance and investment which exist, from banks to angel investors and venture capital, including the new North West Fund due to open its doors for business at the end of the year.

Paul Taylor, Director of Business Delivery at Vision+Media says: “Access to capital for growth is a critical issue for all businesses but particularly for small businesses in this sector who are often much more at home in their own market than amongst the investment community. We designed this programme to help creative companies properly assess their need for capital, better understand the financial and investment community and how to access finance, and how to build value in their business, which is what investors are looking for.”

Steve Smith says “from running Software City and taking UK companies to Silicon Valley, experience tells me there is a real need for local companies to gain a better understanding of investment and how to approach the investment process as a company. We will be bringing this knowledge to the Fast Company Programme 2.

Andy Tait of Pembridge Partners says “We are delighted to again be helping the high growth digital and creative companies of the North West to understand and prepare for finance through the Fast Company 2 programme. The new evolved programme provides a broader base of options available to accelerate and grow companies. We look forward to seeing an even more diverse range of early, mid and mature companies”.

North West creative and digital SMEs can register for the event here