18th July 2019
Bridges closes second Social Outcomes Fund at extended hard cap of £35m
Bridges Fund Management has held a final close on Social Outcomes Fund II, its second fund dedicated to social outcomes contracts, with commitments of £35m. Social outcomes contracts are increasingly used by Government to commission vital social services from mission-driven providers. Instead of the traditional ‘fee for service’ approach, these contracts are structured so that […]
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11th March 2019
Bridges raises £155m for investment in impact-driven businesses
Bridges Fund Management (“Bridges”) has raised £155m of capital to invest in impactful growth businesses and mission-led enterprises, following the close of its latest growth fund and a number of managed accounts. Over the last two years, Bridges has been re-shaping its investment platform in response to demand from impact-driven entrepreneurs seeking different kinds of […]
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11th July 2019
Bridges partners with GEV to support growth of wind power market
Bridges Fund Management has acquired GEV Wind Power (“GEV”), one of the world’s leading wind turbine repair and maintenance providers, from Maven Capital Partners. The existing management team, led by CEO David Fletcher, is re-investing as part of the deal and will continue to lead the business in this growth market. We must produce more […]
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22nd July 2019
Bridges Annual Report 2018-2019
Our latest annual report looks at all the highlights from what was a momentous year for Bridges: our funds raised since inception passed the £1bn mark, following fund closes on three of our investment strategies. Click here to have a read. We’d love to know what you think!
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5th August 2018
Forbes: The Rise Of B Corps Highlights The Emergence Of A New Way Of Doing Business
Research shows that people increasingly want to work for, buy from and invest in companies that have mission and impact at their heart of their business models. In her third Forbes blog, Michele Giddens talks about the rise of the B Corp movement – emblematic of this developing trend – arguing that this creates an […]
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15th August 2018
Forbes: To Invest For Impact, We Need To Start By Agreeing What ‘Impact’ Means
In her fourth Forbes blog post, Michele Giddens argues that one of the biggest barriers to the growth of impact investing is the lack of consensus about what ‘impact’ actually means. So it’s significant that over the last two years, the Impact Management Project (IMP) has managed to bring together around 2,000 organisations from around […]
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26th September 2018
A new global standard for impact management
The next phase of the Impact Management Project (IMP), was launched today at the UN General Assembly in New York. The IMP was conceived to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing investors and businesses: how do we find a commonly-accepted way of defining, measuring and reporting on the impact that every investment has on […]
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2nd October 2018
Bridges invests in Cucina and forms The Impact Food Group
Cucina is a fast-growing school catering business that serves 50 schools in England Healthier eating in schools drives better behaviour and attainment, and helps tackle the growing health crisis of childhood obesity Bridges’ investment will support the management team to expand to new schools and broaden Cucina’s service proposition Cucina joins Innovate to form the […]
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3rd October 2018
Bridges honoured at British Private Equity Awards
We’re delighted to announce that Bridges has been named ‘Responsible Investor of the Year’ in this year’s Unquote British Private Equity Awards! The award recognises managers who go beyond typical ESG requirements, thinking carefully about how they can make a positive impact on people or the planet. Bridges was honoured for incorporating impact into every […]
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3rd October 2018
Forbes: The future of social impact bonds
As governments look for more effective ways of tackling social challenges, outcomes contracts offer a way to target spending on the most effective solutions to pressing challenges – often by focusing on prevention rather than treating the symptoms – with the help of private capital and expertise. In this blog, Michele examines how outcomes contracts […]
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11th October 2018
Forbes: How governments can build the market
This year Michele led a working group for the Global Steering Group on Impact Investing, looking at what the governments of the 20 GSG members (19 countries plus the EU) have been doing to catalyse the growth of the market in their respective countries. In her latest Forbes blog, she summarises some of the key […]
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17th December 2018
Catalysing an Impact Investment Ecosystem: A Policymaker’s Toolkit
The Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG) is an independent collaboration of practitioners aiming to catalyse impact investment and entrepreneurship around the world. Bridges co-founder Michele Giddens (who previously chaired the UK National Advisory Board on Impact Investing, the GSG’s UK offshoot) recently led a Working Group tasked with exploring the role of government […]
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