The article below was sent out to all members of The Leicestershire Chamber Of Trade and is therefore accredited to them
"East Midlands Development Agency (emda) has announced a further step to support small businesses during the economic downturn.
A new fund, known as the East Midlands Transition Loan Fund (TLF) is making £5m available to businesses across the region. This will help to address some of the problems that businesses are currently facing in obtaining credit through banks and other traditional routes.
The TLF, which was first announced in the Government's Pre-Budget Report, will provide individual loans of between £50k to £250k for up to three years. The TLF will be made available to small and medium sized (SME) businesses that have been trading for at least six months and which have good management and viable business plans.
The loans will focus on supporting businesses through the economic downturn rather than providing development capital, and applicants will need to demonstrate a positive impact on job creation or safeguarding.
The East Midlands Transition Loan Fund is being run on a commercial basis and loans will be subject to variable interest rates, reflecting the nature of risk undertaken, and fees. The loans will be secured against assets in the business and the fund manager will be required to assess the viability of the applicant business.
As part of this, businesses will need to provide a business plan including a summary of the business activity, the latest accounts and financial projections. Due to EU regulations, some activities, such as retail and property development, will not be eligible for funding but the majority of East Midlands businesses could potentially qualify.
For more details about the TLF, contact Business Link on 0845 058 6644 or visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/eastmidlands/tlf"
