Leading Tees Valley enterprise agency Five Lamps has launched a new loan fund for businesses looking to grow. Loans of up to £50,000 are available, subject to business case
The first three loans made from the new fund have seen a total of £100,000 approved. These loans will create new jobs, provide essential working capital to enable business growth and enable a move into new premises.
Five Lamps’ Director of Finance & Economic Development, Bill Erskine, is confident that there will be considerable demand for the new fund. He said,
“Five Lamps works with over 1500 new and early-life businesses each year and we are aware of just how difficult it still is for these businesses to access the finance that they need to grow their business. This fund, resourced from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund, supplements our existing New Enterprise Allowance Loans and Start-Up Loans services”
Five Lamps has recently been shortlisted in the Local Enterprise Agency of the Year category in the 2013 National Enterprise Network Awards.
This Regional Growth Fund programme is provided through the Community Development Finance Association. It provides loans to small, micro and social enterprises through the community finance sector. £30million of funding is provided by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund, matched with a further £30 million by the Co-operative Bank and Unity Trust Bank.