Almost £1.9m has been invested so far in new and growing businesses from the £50m Enterprise Development Scheme.

And the fund manager was paid fees of £264,000, it’s been confirmed.

But the Department for Enterprise says it is not its policy to make public the specific amounts loaned to or invested in individual companies.

In the House of Keys last week, Onchan MHK Julie Edge asked the Enterprise Minister Laurence Skelly what payments had been made from the fund.

In a written reply, Mr Skelly said the scheme is now fully operational and continues to have a ’steady pipeline’ of applications.

He said: ’It is the department’s policy not to make public the specific amounts loaned to or invested in individual companies under the Enterprise Development Scheme.

’The total amount invested under the Scheme as at the end of October 2017 is £1.885m.’

The EDS was approved by Tynwald in October 2015 and scheme manager, Spark Impact, was appointed in March last year, the scheme becoming operational the following month.

A total of £50m is available over a five-year period for loans and equity investments for eligible businesses.

Its main aims are to both create jobs in the island and to deliver a return on the investment.

Five of the businesses who have received support from the fund have chosen to go public - Biomed firm Nimbus Medical Ltd, e-businesses E-Sign Ltd and Scout 4 Ltd, Cortech Healthcare Ltd and Roots Beverage Company.

Four of these are now actively trading with new jobs already coming through, said Mr Skelly.

He revealed total fees paid to Spark Impact in the last financial year were £264,000 of which a significant proportion was the fixed fee.

Spark Impact say there are a further 41 potential deals in the pipeline, with five in the late stages of negotiation.

The EDS annual report, to be presented to this month’s Tynwald sitting, shows £1.23m of assistance had been obtained by three companies in the last financial year - Nimbus, E-Sign and XLabs Ltd.