New loan fund for South West businesses
14 April 2009
As part of the drive for economic recovery, the South West
Regional Development Agency (RDA) has announced the launch of a new
£10m South West Loans Fund which is now available to help
growth-oriented business with viable business plans. Of this £5m is
available in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly and £5m for the rest
of the region.
Interested businesses should contact Business Link who will take
them through the first steps in the application process. Contact
details: 0845 600 9966 or visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/southwest.
Small businesses are at the heart of the economy and it is vital
that they are supported during this critical time. The South West
Loans Fund will play an important role in supporting some of these
companies through the economic downturn. It offers smaller firms,
who meet the eligibility criteria, the opportunity to obtain the
capital they need to sustain and develop their business
activities.
Stephen Peacock, the RDA's Executive Director of Enterprise and
Innovation, said: "This is good news for the region's businesses.
Viable and growing companies throughout the South West need help
accessing finance. This Fund will go some way towards alleviating
these problems."
South West Investment Group (Capital) Ltd has been awarded a
grant of £10m for the fund and will be overseeing the programme.
The money is provided by the South West RDA (£3.75m) and the
European Regional Development Fund - through the ERDF Convergence
Programme in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (£3.75m) and the ERDF
Competitiveness and Employment Programme in the rest of the region
(£2.5m). This is the first time that the new European Structural
Funds have been used in this way in England.
John Berry Executive director of SWIG Capital, the organisation
responsible for holding the funds, said: "I am really pleased that
the European Regional Development Fund Programmes and the RDA have
agreed to provide these funds, particularly in this difficult
financial environment. Everyone has really pulled the stops out to
make this happen. The fund is targeted at those businesses which
have the potential to make a real economic difference to the South
West through their growth prospects -importantly this is not a
'bail out' fund".
Ends
Notes to Editors
1. In November 2008 the RDA announced it would establish a £10m
loan fund for businesses in the South West - First Steps: Action
for Recovery. Since then the RDA and partners have been
working to get the fund operational and available to businesses as
quickly as possible.
For media enquiries, please contact: Rachel Price, South West
RDA press office: Tel: 01392 229548
Contact Details
Name Rachel Price
Tel 01392 229548
Email rachel.price@southwestrda.org.uk