The Growth Company’s business finance service arm has said it has provided more than £7.8m of funding to North West businesses since March.
The Manchester-headquartered specialist lender said it responded to “unprecedented demand” for support from the North West market, receiving close to 3,000 applications from SMEs.
GC Business Finance has provided close to £3.1m in funding backed by the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans Scheme (CBILS), it said, and has used its flexible Start-Up Loans product to provide £3m of support to companies across the region.
A further £840,000 has been provided to businesses in Lancashire under the Rosebud Fund it manages on behalf of Lancashire county council and has supported businesses across the North West to raise over £600,000 in investment round closes since the beginning of lockdown.
Businesses in the digital and creative sector have been the largest recipient of funding - securing more than £1.2m since the beginning of the pandemic - followed by businesses in the food and drink sector - securing £840,000 - and manufacturing - securing £560,000.
Chris Hutchison, head of lending at GC Business Finance, said: “During this challenging time, it was crucial that North West entrepreneurs had access to the financial support they require, both to stabilise in the short term and position their business for future growth.
“Helping local businesses is something we have built our business on, and we are proud to have been able to support so many SMEs in recent months as well as look forward to continuing to support these businesses going forwards as CBILs comes to a close.
“We recognise, however, that the job is not done.
“With the banks’ appetite for lending beginning to dip, owners need to know the options that they have at their disposal. We remain open for business and look forward to working closely with more of the region’s ambitious entrepreneurs in the coming months."
