As part of Lloyds Banking Group’s national pledge to lend £18billion to UK businesses*, the Group expects to support firms in the North East with up to £700million** of lending during 2019.
As part of the Group’s continued commitment to help British businesses prosper, today’s announcement underlines to existing and new businesses across the North East that the Group is committed to supporting businesses through 2019 and beyond.
The £700million is available to firms across the North East and will support entrepreneurs looking to start-up a new business, micro-businesses seeking to scale up and small businesses considering trading internationally for the first time. It will also support established mid-sized businesses and large, multinational corporations seeking further growth.
Last year, Lloyds Banking Group supported The Darlington Farmers Auction Mart relocate to a new purpose-built auction premises with the support of a seven-figure funding package.
Lloyds Banking Group Ambassador for the North East, Nick Williams, said: “The North East is home to a range of thriving sectors, from advanced manufacturing and energy through to life sciences and digital services. As part of our commitment to help Britain prosper we want to support businesses with the unique opportunities and challenges they face. By lending up to £700million we hope this will go some way to help businesses across the region – from SMEs to large multi-nationals – unlock their ambitions for the year ahead.”
Throughout 2018, the Group demonstrated its ongoing commitment to supporting British businesses, launching initiatives such as the creation of the £500million growth fund to help firms invest in equipment which improves their productivity, backing the Lloyds Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre with an additional £5million to help train 3,500 manufacturing apprenticeships, and also the swift creation of a £50million fund to support small businesses within the Carillion supply chain.
In addition, the Group reinforced its support to the UK housing sector by launching a £500million fund for housing associations last year, supporting the Government’s pledge to deliver 300,000 houses each year by the middle of the next decade. It also committed £750million in 2018 for social housing projects, contributing to the Group’s commitment to enable more people in Britain to get a home.