News: South Yorkshire businesses boosted by microloan partnership

Two of South Yorkshire's most successful enterprise funding organisations have joined forces to provide microloans to new start up and existing businesses in the region. The partnership between South Yorkshire Investment Fund (SYIF) and Donbac Ltd means small and medium sized enterprises across the region, which are unable to raise all or part of the finance they need from their bank have access to funds. The Donbac Microloan can provide new start up businesses or those trading for up to six months, with loans between £1,000 and £5,000. Businesses that have completed six months of trading are eligible for loans of up to £15,000. Similar to SYIF's partnership with the new BiG Business Loan Fund in Sheffield, the Donbac Microloan will target people across the rest of South Yorkshire who struggle to raise funds from banks because their venture is too early-stage or they may have experienced problems with poor credit history. Tony Goulbourn, chief executive of SYIF, said: "It is a significant step for small enterprises in South Yorkshire that they now have wider access to microloan funding to help them establish. "In the current climate, economic factors will impact upon small businesses' ability to get financial backing. The Donbac Microloan can provide a way around that. "Donbac is an organisation with rich tradition of successful investment and this partnership is another great opportunity for SYIF to support sustainable business growth and increase the success rate of locally-owned companies in the region." Angela Allison, executive director of Donbac, said: "The coming together of two large-scale secondary lenders can only be good news for the small businesses and entrepreneurs in South Yorkshire. "The credit crunch means it is a tough time for SMEs but this partnership puts us in a stronger position to continue supporting enterprise and regenerating the economy."
SYIF website
Rotherham