Lending

NatWest looks to boost confidence with new 1bn small business fund

High street lender NatWest has launched a new 1bn lending fund to help support growth among small businesses across England and Wales.

The fund will be split between 11 UK regions, targeting both new and existing businesses with an annual turnover of up to 2m.

It will offer new borrowing with fixed rate loans of up to 500, 000, with no arrangement or repayment fees.

Knowing that they can repay loans without penalty if they deicide not to use them, it is hoped the fund will give owners of some of the UK’s smallest businesses the confidence to move ahead with growth strategies at a time of economic uncertainty.

Managing director at NatWest Business Banking, and expert contributor to Business Advice, Marcelino Castrillo, said that he hoped the high street lender’s new fund would support as many small firms as possible. We want to assure small businesses that we have funds available and we want to lend.

we want to be easy to do business with and for our products to be simple and transparent, which is why we scrapped set up and repayment fees on our loans. We hope this flexibility will give confidence to businesses that are ready for growth but might be delaying investment decisions.

To coincide with the new fund, NatWest has also established a team of so-called business growth enablers? to provide skills and guidance to business owners across the country.