NATWEST and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) say they have loaned around £24m to North West and North Wales businesses under the Government’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme.
The bank, which is now 70% owned by the Government, said it has advanced almost £150m to struggling firms across the UK.
The EFG scheme was introduced specifically to help viable businesses access finance when they had no more security to offer and to help them combat the ravages of the recession.
The cash has been a particular help to those healthy businesses suffering short-term cashflow problems caused by late or slow debtors.
Under the scheme, the Government will guarantee 75% of any loans made, with the bank covering the remaining 25%.
Bill Ratcliffe, managing director of business and commercial banking for Natwest/RBS in the North West and North Wales said: “We have led the field in providing EFG funds to SMEs with £24m worth of loans either sanctioned or in the pipeline.
“Overall demand within the region for funding under the scheme has come from the manufacturing sector. Demand has also been strong among the region’s transport and distribution sector, second only to Scotland in the total value of loans requested.
“NatWest and RBS remain committed to providing financial support to SMEs to overcome the challenge of trading through an economic downturn.”
One such business to benefit from the EFG scheme was Chester-based engineering firm CAL Systems.
It secured £200,000 from Natwest in April when a short-term cash crisis threatened its future.
Directors of the firm had to move quickly when one of its clients made an unexpected change to its payment terms, extending them from 30 days to 120 days.
The change put pressure on CAL’s short-term cashflow, which threatened its ability to fulfil future contracts and put the jobs of its 35 employees at risk.
But the day was saved when managing director Frank Ainsworth secured the funding through the NatWest in Warrington.
Mr Ainsworth said shortly after securing the loan: “We have been trading for 20 years and during that time we established a strong customer base that grew year on year.
“Suddenly we faced a situation where some of our blue-chip clients considerably extended their payment terms.
“This, combined with the difficult economic conditions, put a strain on our finances.”
