Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce is to team up with the Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest for the launch of a new business finance initiative to help small businesses.
The chamber is looking to raise £13m for the loan fund which will provide funding from £3,000 to £50,000 for companies in Greater Manchester that have been unable to secure loans from mainstream sources.
The chamber’s 'Business Finance Solutions' arm has already lent more than £5m to companies in the region through a similar scheme.
RBS and NatWest are promoting the initiative to businesses through its network of business and commercial banking centres in Greater Manchester. However, the banks are not committing any funding to the scheme. The fund is instead financed through government-backed and European funding streams.
