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Small businesses 'benefit from £700m of funding'
More than £700m of affordable, easy access funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB) has been approved for nearly 3,000 businesses in the UK, the Government has revealed.
The 2008 Pre-Budget Report announced that up to £4bn of EIB finance had been secured for funding SME capital investment between 2008 and 2011. Participating banks have secured £1.39bn of funding and approved £726m of loans, covering 2,769 small firms.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can access the funds through participating national banks, which lend the finance on a matched funds basis.
Ian Pearson, economic secretary to the Treasury, said, 'Support for SMEs is key to driving growth in the UK, so I am delighted that small businesses are benefiting from this finance. 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 is an easy process and certainly worth pursuing'.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) welcomed the news, but urged non-participating banks to take part in the scheme in order to assist more small businesses through the recovery.