Finance & Funding

Real Help For Businesses Now

The government has pledged £22bn of support to help businesses across the through the global credit crisis.

The programme is to help businesses that are struggling to find finance not through any fault of their own, but because of the tougher credit conditions.

The Real Help Package

Real Help for Businesses Now is the name of the package of help.  You can find out more and access the help by contacting Business Link.  

There are different kinds of help depending on the credit you need, and the reason you need it.

• Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme – aims to help smaller, credit-worthy companies which might otherwise fail to access the finance they need for working capital or investment finance due to the current tight lending conditions. The Government will provide a guarantee to the lending bank for funds borrowed by eligible businesses.  The guarantee, available through high street banks, applies to new loans and can also be used to convert existing overdrafts into loans to enable businesses to free up their current overdraft facilities to meet working capital demands.
• Working Capital Scheme – is a direct response to the constraint on bank credit available for lending to ordinary-risk businesses with a turnover of up to £500m a year. The Government is providing banks with guarantees covering 50% of the risk on existing and new working capital portfolios worth up to £20bn.  This has freed up bank assets and made more credit available than before, and guarantees firms that the credit won't be reduced or withdrawn. 
• Capital for Enterprise Fund – helps businesses raise new long-term finance. The Government is offering to invest in viable companies which have high levels of existing debt through a new £75m fund. Banks are also contributing to it and the provides long term capital to businesses which have exhausted traditional forms of finance. Companies can use this capital to invest in and grow their business.

How to find more information

In order to help businesses identify their financial needs, the Government has launched a new “one stop shop” easy-to-use web portal. North East businesses can find out about this scheme via www.businesslink.gov.uk/realhelp/finance  or by calling 0845 600 9 006.

The Enterprise Finance Guarantee is available now through the high street banks.