Barclays Announces £14bn Fund to Help Businesses Succeed After Brexit

https://home.barclays/news/2019/04/sme-lending-fund/

Barclays Bank has announced it is establishing a new £14 billion lending fund which forms part of an overarching initiative designed to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) ‘flourish’ after Brexit.

Focused on building SME resilience during uncertain times, the package of support includes:

• A £14 billion dedicated lending fund for those businesses that are deemed important to the UK economy (turnover of £0-£25 million).

• More than 100 SME Brexit clinics and seminars being run in local communities across the country.

• An established network of on-the-ground relationship management experts and industry specialists, based across the UK.

The bank says these initiatives are designed to help SMEs think about managing cash-flow and working capital, as well as exporting goods abroad, labour, supply chain management, and broader issues of preparedness.

This fund is intended for SMEs at several stages of growth and development. It includes a range of business lending services, including:

• Business loans, commercial mortgages and overdrafts up to £250,000 working capital.

• Cash flow funding for investment in growth, management buyouts and business acquisition.

• Loans for innovative businesses looking for growth funding, capital and environmental investment.

• Maximising government schemes like The Enterprise Finance Guarantee programme.

Launching the fund, Barclays Group CEO Jes Staley, said:

"Barclays stands ready to help local businesses in towns, cities and rural communities, up and down the country, during this period of uncertainty.

"Today’s £14bn fund, along with our broader package of support, shows our commitment to the local businesses that are the backbone of the UK economy – we are here to help them plan for the future and invest for growth."

IUK Launches Open Grant Funding Competition: Round Two

Innovate UK (IUK) is the UK's innovation agency and, as part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), works with people, companies and partner organisations to de-risk, enable and support innovation, and promote UK economic growth.

IUK’s vision is to help the UK economy grow over and above other nations by inspiring and supporting pioneering UK businesses to create the industries of the future. The Open Grant Funding Competition is designed to help businesses develop cutting-edge ideas for innovative new products and services that could have an economic impact on the UK economy.

This competition is open to the best ideas or concepts with a view to commercialisation. These can come from any area of technology, science or engineering, including arts, design, media or creative industries. Proposals can fit into, or be outside of, one or more of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund areas.

Projects can focus on disruptive and game-changing ideas in any sector of the economy. They can be of various kinds, from small feasibility studies to longer industrial research or experimental development projects. Priority will be given to proposals that are likely to lead to sustainable gains in productivity or access to new overseas markets through export-led business growth.

IUK has allocated up to £20 million to fund innovation projects through grants in this Open competition. IUK expects projects to range in size between £25,000 and £2 million and for them to last between 6 and 36 months.

To lead a project, applicants must be a UK-based business of any size or a research and technology organisation (RTO). The project must be undertaken in, and exploit results from, the UK. Applicants may work alone or in collaboration with others (businesses, research base and third sector).

The competition is now open with a deadline for applications of midday on 12 September 2018.

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