How Do We Get Government Help?

mikeopvc

In recent news the government announced help for small firms, How do we get our hands on this cash?
I run a small business and due to it's nature we always seem to have cashflow problems.
We have a small overdraft but that isn't really enough to cover suppliers bills whilst awaiting payment from customers.
I have applied to my current business bank for extra overdraft but am not confident they will say yes.
What other options do we have?

Any advice would be great thanks

debt12

Hi, I also work for a SME and we are experiencing problems with cash flow too, we have applied for a capital loan and have had to supply mountains of forecasts and paperwork to the bank, they have been sitting on it now for two weeks and we are still none the wiser. Try your bank and see what is available, I think they are two kinds of loans a capital and a SME. Good luck

ukbill69

What it is the bank tries to get you a loan, if they turn you down for what ever reason they try the gov fund.

dacouch

To get Government help you should...

a) Invest large sums of money into sub prime mortgages in America without fully understanding the risks you are taking
b) Nearly go bankrupt possibly taking innocent depositers savings with you
c) Go to the government for help and promise there are no more hidden debts and you with money from the government you will start lending to British Businesses and the public
d) Go back to the government and admit you had more debts you did not declare and need money and promise you will defintely start lending again.

There you go, that should give you a portion of £34billion at last count

MDJO_2

Hi
The support the Gov't announced was basically three packages
1) Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme (EFG) which is the re-packaged small firms loan guarantee scheme whereby Gov't guarantees 75% of the loan from the bank - it can be for new loans, refinancing existing debt and for converting all or part of your existing overdraft into a loan thus freeing up capacity in your overdraft. Initial response from banks has been guarded, so expect to have to push for this. The banks still make the decision and are highly likely to want security for the remaining 25%. Top 5/6 banks are involved
2) Enterprise Capital Scheme - injection of cash into your business for a share
3) Gov't putting £10bn into banks to facilitate £20bn of lending - note here though that Gov't will be financing portfolios of loans rather than individual loans to SME's (so again banks making the ultimate decision to lend to a company or not) - not available until end Feb 09 and Gov't in discussion with some key banks
Go to www.businesslink.gov.uk/realhelp where you can complete an online assessment that you can take to the bank.
Otherwise might be some regional loan funds available, again would suggest speaking to Business link as they will be able to advise and point you in right direction
Hope that helps a little

chris_spackman

waste billions, use bad business practices and pay people millions as a bonus to your staff for fxxxxxg up or if you are a foreign firm buy say...Land Rover etc and ask for a few billion. if you're a small firm they couldn't give a toss and use lots of red tape, introduce different ways to cause you problems with trying to get ahead and use their revenue arm to seek out and prey on small firms as they know there will be mistakes due to the big firms being to expensive and complex to look at.

Savvy_Sue

While there is obviously some truth in what dacouch and chris spackman are saying, I can't help thinking that the OP is going to find the other responses - particularly MDJO's - more useful.

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