One of the biggest barriers to small businesses starting up is funding - so it’s great to learn that banking group NatWest are backing entrepreneurship in the UK by launching a £1bn small business fund to help entrepreneurs start up. With the business climate in the UK feeling uncertain at present due to the referendum, this is a great initiative to encourage more businesses to start.
The lending fund is designed to support the growth of businesses across England and Wales which turn over less than £2m. The scheme is also available in Scotland through Royal Bank of Scotland. Traders can apply for loans of up to £500,000 – as with Virgin StartUp, they’re fixed rate and incur no penalty costs if you’re able to repay them early.
Marcelino Castrillo, managing director of business banking at NatWest, explained "Small businesses make up more than 99 per cent of private sector businesses, so when they want to grow it's essential we're there to help them. With the creation of this £1bn fund we want to assure small businesses that we have funds available and we want to lend."
Here’s hoping that schemes like this will help encourage the UK’s entrepreneurs to start up new business ventures, continuing to drive the UK’s economy forward – and that more banks and organisations will take the initiative to help this cause!
