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Accountants Welcome Help for Small Businesses

High Wycombe accountants Fish Partnership have welcomed a new government initiative to help small businesses who have been struggling to find the financial help they need as a result of the credit crunch.

A package of aid announced earlier this month by Business Secretary Lord Mandelson includes an Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme, aimed at firms with a turnover of up to £25 million.

The government will provide £1bn of guarantees to support up to £1.3bn of lending to smaller firms seeking loans of between £1,000 and £1m, for up to ten years. The scheme is already come in operation and will continue until March 2010.

The guarantee, available through high street banks including Barclays, HBOS, HSBC and Lloyds TSB, will be used to support new loans, refinance existing loans and to loans convert part or all of an existing overdrafts into loans. This will allow businesses to free up overdraft facilities to meet working capital demands.

Martin Sheehy, partner at Fish Partnership, said: “This kind of financial support is vital to help smaller businesses come through the difficult economic conditions we are experiencing, ready to take advantage of a future upturn.

“We hope this initiative will prove to be a financial lifeline to many businesses that are currently struggling to keep their heads above water.”

A new web portal has also been launched to direct companies to the most appropriate form of support, and help them check their eligibility for a range of government support, at www.businesslink.gov.uk/realhelp/finance

For more information contact Fish Partnership on 01628 527956.

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