Small and medium sized businesses are set to benefit financially from a raft of new government measures.
Key amongst the new measures is a ‘ground breaking’ deal, unveiled by David Cameron as aiming to help businesses that are unable to obtain the funding they need in commercial loans from the banks.
The cash will come from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund, which is worth £1.4 billion in total. The award of grants, made from the Regional Growth Fund will be administered by the Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC. Cash will only be available to buy assets and only as part of a package, which includes a loan from the bank concerned.
The aim of the scheme is to help businesses create or safeguard jobs by investing in capital assets such as plants or machinery, by way of making it possible for banks to offer loans they would otherwise be reluctant to provide.
David Cameron has hailed the development as “a huge step forward” in the drive to create jobs and boost business investment. Ministers estimate that the scheme will unlock around £500 million of new investment in the SME sector and create at least 4,000 new jobs.
This is one of many key measures currently being implemented, further new schemes include:
The National Export Challenge – which are a series of initiatives to give SMEs the knowledge they need to make the first steps to breaking into new markets.
- Open to Export – a web resource providing small businesses with professional export advice.
- One Click Registration – allowing businesses to get online, register their businesses at Companies House, sign up for PAYE registration, Corporation Tax and Self Assessment, all in one place. The ability to register for VAT is intended to follow shortly.
- The Web Fuelled Business Initiative – from which workshops will be set up all over the country to ensure that businesses are able to exploit the global opportunities offered by the internet.
- An expansion of the Red Tape Challenge so that entrepreneurs and investors can tell the government where rules and regulations get in the way of innovation.
For more information on this article or for information on any of the services offered by the Corporate Team please contact Sofi Instone-Brewer by emailing Sofi or by calling her on 08450 990045, or speak to your usual contact in the Corporate Team.
This document is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Professional legal advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the contents of this document.
