Bolsover District Council is offering an Economic Loan Fund (ELF) to small and medium-sized businesses across the District to provide reliable support and help businesses thrive.
Council Leader, Steve Fritchley requested the loan be set up to help supplement the council’s existing Business Growth Fund which provides grants to new businesses and existing small and medium-sized enterprise.
He added: “We have to do everything in our power to help businesses survive during these difficult times. If we can assist one business survive or save one job then we are achieving what we set out to do.
“The ELF is designed to offer an additional source of financial support to businesses who may not be able to get a bank loan and have the ambition to grow, but are held back by their ability to capitalise on their business proposals.”
A total of £150,000 has been made available to loan to businesses and the availability of these Council-backed loans gives businesses access to a principled and reliable ‘lender of last resort’. The loans provide a fixed-term loan with no early cancellation fees, no arrangement fees, no interest charged for the first 12 months and competitive rates thereafter.
Cabinet Member for Economic Growth Councillor Liz Smyth said: “We want to support businesses in the District to help them grow and thrive. We have already allocated two hundred thousand pounds to a second round of the Business Growth Fund scheme to provide grants to new business start-ups, and existing small and medium enterprises and this further funding underlines our commitment to supporting the local economy.”
The ELF offers loans of between £2,000 and £10,000 and are available for a wide range of projects for both capital and revenue expenditure with a repayment term of between two and five years. Terms and conditions apply.