Financial support
There is a range of financial support available to help local businesses.
Real Help With Finance
Real Help with Finance is a package of financial measures that will help enable banks to continue or to resume lending to viable small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) during the current economic downturn. These include:
- Working Capital Scheme: Around £20bn of short term bank lending to companies with a turnover of up to £200m.
- Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme: aimed at businesses with an annual turnover of up to £25million. The government will provide a guaranteed against a loan of up to £1million for a period of up to 10 years.
- Capital for Enterprise Fund: aimed at viable small businesses with high levels of debt who need real help to raise long term finance. Professional fund managers will provide equity investment which can be used to pay off existing debt so to free up capital for the day-to-day cash flow and for investment.
Advice on how best to access these funds is available from Business Link in London or telephone 0845 6000 787.
Financial Support for Local Enterprise
Croydon Enterprise's Ladder of Finance is a series of funding grants designed for new businesses needing finance either to start or to grow. They include:
- Test Trading Grants : One-off grants of £250 which start-ups may find useful to help kick-start a business, buy a vital piece of equipment or test the product or service in the marketplace.
- Loan Fund : Loans ranging from £2001 to £50,000 aimed at sole traders or limited liability companies finding it hard to get loans from mainstream sources.
- Business Angels : Croydon Enterprise is currently putting together a group of successful Croydon business people who are willing to invest in the local entrepreneurs of the future. Known as 'Business Angels', they will be prepared to invest their own cash in promising business ventures.
If you want further information on any of these schemes, or you're unsure about what type of funding is best for you, call the Croydon Enterprise Business Hotline on 020 8680 6161.
The GLE oneLondon website also provides some useful information.
Rapid Response
Business Link for London 's Rapid Response service is for businesses at risk of failing or for those who have been made redundant and are thinking about starting up their own business. It offers free, impartial business information and advice to London based businesses, either over the phone or face to face with one of its specialist Rapid Response business advisers.
Interactive Toolkit
Business Link for London has an interactive tool to help you find and secure the right finance for your business needs.
HMRC
HM Revenues and Customs are supporting businesses throughout the difficult period by giving them the opportunity to pay all their HMRC taxes, including PAYE, National Insurance Contributions and VAT through payment timetables which they can afford. Further information is available from the HMRC website.
Managing Cash Flow
A series of guides, developed in partnership with the Institute of Credit Management, providing practical support to help businesses help themselves through these difficult times.They are designed to provide straightforward and speedy advice with simple checklists and top tips. Further information is available from the Credit Management Matters website.
