Weil, Gotshal & Manges advised Bridges Ventures, a sustainable growth investment company, on its investment in Auto22, an automotive service centre business based in Kent. The transaction value has not been disclosed.

Auto22 operates a vocational training center and a commercially-run garage in Gravesend in the U.K., offering disadvantaged young people opportunities to gain qualifications, skills and employment in car mechanics. The investment will facilitate the development of further garages in the vicinity and Auto22 will provide Bridges Ventures with an opportunity to help to build a social enterprise in the training and employment sector.

Bridges Ventures is a sustainable growth investment company established in 2002 as a fund manager, whose commercial expertise is used to achieve social or environmental aims, as well as attractive returns for investors. It currently has three types of funds under management: the Venture Funds, the Property Funds, and the Social Entrepreneurs Fund. The Auto22 investment was made under the Social Entrepreneurs Fund, which aims to address the funding gap often faced by fast growing social enterprises looking to scale.