£1.5bn fund to support small firms in region

A NEW fund worth £1.5 billion to support small businesses in the West Midlands has been launched.

HSBC UK has earmarked the capital from a new nationwide £15 billion lending pot aimed at supporting small- and medium-sized businesses.

The bank, which is headquartered in Birmingham, said its customers had told it they were ready to invest for growth with sustainability and digitisation highlighted as key areas.

This year’s UK SME Fund also includes ring-fenced capital for businesses trading internationally (£2 billion), in the agriculture sector (£1.2 billion), in the tech sector (£500 million) and franchisees (£500 million).

It is also aligned with the bank’s own Green SME Fund (£500 million) for businesses of all sizes to transition and thrive in a low carbon economy and the new Growth Lending Fund (£250 million) for high-growth tech businesses to support other scale ups early in their own growth journeys.

Since launching the SME Fund in 2014, HSBC said it had lent more than £90 billion helping businesses to make the most of their money.

Head of business banking Peter McIntyre said: “SMEs are vital to the UK economy and our customers have told us they are ready to invest for growth.

“The £15 billion fund will help businesses to expand internationally, as well as here in the UK, supporting key sectors and driving investment across the regions.

“We want to make a significant contribution to economies across the country, driving employment, local wealth and growth by providing funding, when and where it’s needed most.

“We know our customers are innovating and adapting at pace and British businesses need their bank to be flexible, supporting future growth

opportunities.”