Author: Hannah Gilchrist
Date: 03/02/2010
Could you benefit from cheaper investment funding? The European Investment Bank (EIB) is fast becoming another choice for many of the UK’s small businesses.
In the 2008 Pre-Budget Report the Government outlined £4 billion of EIB finance to be made available for small businesses between 2008 and 2011. So far nearly 3,000 small businesses have already secured loans worth up to £700 million, funds that are generally cheaper than other forms of credit.
Economic secretary to the Treasury, Ian Pearson MP believes that businesses need to be made aware of the types of funding on offer.
‘I want to encourage all businesses to get in touch with their local banks to find out if they can get access to this funding; it’s an easy process and certainly worth pursuing, he said.
Banks that are involved in the scheme include Barclays, Close Brothers, HBOS, Lloyds TSB, NatWest, RBS, Santander and Ulster Bank.
John Wright, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses agrees that more needs to be done to get this funding out to the small businesses that need it.
‘We continue to urge non-participating banks to enter the scheme to make the loans available to more SME clients,’ he told Real Business. ‘Further promotion of EIB loans will continue to help the smallest companies through the recovery.’