GC Business Finance

Aaron Malins serves as Director of GC Business Finance, overseeing the firm's lending operations. Marc Shirman leads GC Angels, the equity investment division that handles direct startup investments. Both operate within the framework of The Growth Company, the parent social enterprise that sets the strategic and economic development mandate.

The firm sources through its status as a patron of the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB), its membership in the Responsible Finance network, and direct relationships with regional business support organizations. As a delivery partner for British Business Bank programs, it also receives referrals tied to government-backed loan schemes, creating a pipeline distinct from typical venture cold outreach.

It is neither. GC Business Finance is a Community Development Finance Institution (CDFI) and the dedicated finance arm of The Growth Company, a not-for-profit social enterprise. It operates more like a mission-driven regional lender with an attached angel equity practice, using government-guaranteed facilities to support early-stage companies in Northern England.

The firm executes direct loans and direct equity investments. It also jointly manages public-private investment vehicles — notably the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II Smaller Loans in the North West, managed in partnership with River Capital. Its model combines direct origination with fiduciary management of government-backed regional funds.

GC Business Finance is a wholly owned subsidiary and the primary finance delivery arm of The Growth Company, a Manchester-headquartered social enterprise focused on economic development, skills training, and business support. The parent organization does not distribute profits to shareholders; investment returns are recycled into further lending and economic programs.

Portfolio sectors align with Northern England's regional industrial strategy priorities: digital and enterprise software, health innovation and digital health, fintech, and clean growth or climate technology. The firm does not operate in hard industrial infrastructure or resource extraction; its focus is firmly on early-stage service and technology businesses.

The firm itself does not run a separate philanthropic foundation. Its parent, The Growth Company, is structured as a social enterprise and reinvests surplus into community and economic development programs. The distinction is important: the entire organization operates with a charitable social purpose, not a corporate social responsibility arm separate from its core activities.