Better Business Finance Roadshow Up And Running

Tue, 22 Mar 2011

The Business Finance Taskforce has launched a new initiative aimed at helping entrepreneurs improve their chances of securing bank funding .

The Better Business Finance initiative involves a series of regional outreach events put together by the Taskforce, which is led by the British Bankers Association (BBA) and includes the UK’s main high street banks .

The scheme is part of the group’s commitment to improve access to bank finance and advice for Britain’s small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs).

The first free roadshow was held in Sheffield earlier this month, where local businesses took part in workshops and a panel discussion.

Similar events will also take place in all the major cities in the UK, which will also include a mentoring programme providing SMEs with one-to-one advice on getting their business loan applications accepted.

Lesley McLeod, spokeswoman for the BBA, said the initiative highlights the banks’ support for small businesses .

"We collected data here at the BBA which showed that lending was actually holding up and in some cases increasing," she commented.

"We wanted to go up and down the country and do these roadshows because we thought if we can’t get people through the door, the best way was to go and meet them."

Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) spokeswoman, Sara Lee, added: "The roadshows are probably going to be quite useful as they will allow real businesses to talk to the banks directly rather than it being anecdotal and coming through the business groups."

"We and the other business groups have done a lot of work with the taskforce and it has our backing."
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