Partnerships to grow small businesses
Metro Bank will support up to £100 million of lending for eligible businesses in London and the South East that are signed up to GrowthAccelerator.
3 Oct 2012
The Government’s £200 million GrowthAccelerator service matches eligible companies with business experts to identify barriers to growth and ways to overcome them.
Help can be provided in areas such as securing finance, commercialising innovation or developing leadership and management capability. Over 1,000 businesses have joined the programme since it was launched in May 2012
RBS Natwest has also agreed to promote the service across its nationwide network to its UK SME customers.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said:
“GrowthAccelerator is designed to help these next generation businesses fulfil their potential. Getting access to finance on reasonable terms is crucial to their success which is why I am delighted with today’s pledge by Metro Bank to provide up to £100 million of lending to eligible businesses signed up to GrowthAccelerator. It is good news for businesses that new entrants like Metro Bank are energising the market to support dynamic, fast-growing UK businesses.
“I also welcome RBS Natwest’s commitment to promote GrowthAccelerator to its substantial SME client-base.”
Vince Cable was in Cambridge and visited St John’s Innovation Centre, the region’s leading business hub for start-ups and one of the GrowthAccelerator partners. At the Centre he met 50 local businesses that are eligible to join the scheme as well as those already receiving coaching through it.
Local Business Accelerators
As part of the Business in You Campaign, today also saw the launch of Local Business Accelerators, an initiative from the regional press industry to boost local businesses, and supported by Dragons’ Den’s Deborah Meaden which will give business the chance to win free local newspaper advertising and mentoring from local business leaders.