Small firms urged to seek govt-backed lending

Date: 14th April 2009

The UK's smaller enterprise sector has been urged to seek help from government-backed lending schemes.

According to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, the number of programmes available to help small businesses is constantly rising.

Among these is the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme, which has seen the Treasury underwrite large amounts of private business debt.

For more information on how to secure finance under such programmes, small business managers should speak to their accountant or advisor.

Ian Pearson, business minister, said: "I know that many local businesses are feeling the pressure as cashflow has become tighter and access to credit has been squeezed.

"We have taken decisive action to get credit flowing again and … it's crucial that businesses understand what support is available to them."

Statistics published by the British Bankers' Association earlier this month revealed that lending to small businesses increasing by approximately £211 million in February.