News: £5 million loan fund launched for region

A new loan fund worth £5 million has been launched in Yorkshire and Humber to help businesses tackle the credit crunch. Yorkshire Forward announced the "Transition Loan Fund" with Business Minister Pat McFadden in South Yorkshire as part of the Regional Development Agency’s ongoing efforts to support regional businesses through the recession. The new loan fund, which can be accessed through Business Link Yorkshire, has been designed to provide small to medium sized businesses in the region with working capital to help them maintain liquidity in their business. Speaking about the new transition loan fund Yorkshire Forward's Terry Hodgkinson explains: "We are not here to act as another bank, or to step on the toes of the banking sector and we are looking to closely with the banks to ensure the financial needs of the region’s businesses can be met via traditional routes and our support. We want to ensure well managed, sustainable companies can manage their credit successfully so that they can weather the downturn. "The transition loan fund adds to the support that we are already making available in the region and will help to ensure even more businesses can continue to operate and hopefully expand, despite the recession." Department for Business Minister Pat McFadden said: "Access to finance is key to helping businesses through these difficult times. Through this fund local firms can get the support they need to bridge short-term gaps and secure their futures. This is of particular value to firms in the supply chain where a major customer has run in to difficulty." The scheme involves a £1.2 million small loans pot that will be available for working capital of up to £50,000 for SMEs, a £1 million business angels co-finance scheme and a £2.8 million large loans scheme will provide general loans in the region of £70,000 to £100,000.

Yorkshire Forward website

Rotherham