Croydon banks 'ready and willing' to lend to local businesses

A major financial summit in Croydon has seen banks and key agencies promise to keep lending local businesses the money they need to survive the recession.

Croydon Council chief executive Jon Rouse and Croydon Business' senior programme manager Lisa McCance called the Banks Summit last month as part of Croydon's Economic Recovery Plan, to share information on the recession and to find ways of supporting local businesses.

Jon Rouse said: "The banks are ready, willing and able to help their clients access the funds they need during this difficult time. We are committed to working together to support local businesses and restore growth."

The group, which included RBS, Lloyds TSB, NatWest, Barclays and HSBC, agreed to ensure all local businesses were aware of and able to access the various loans and support funds available. These include the government's Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme and the European Investment Bank Loan Scheme as well as Croydon Enterprise's own Finance for Enterprise initiative which is a £1m fund able to provide small enterprises with loans of between £2,000 and £50,000.

John Walsham, RBS director of business for Croydon, said: "It was a good meeting; We established that the banks have an appetite to lend money. Lending rates may have gone down because fewer businesses are choosing to invest now, but we have been doing our utmost to support our regular clients and since September we have been proactively contacting them to offer them loans should they need monies for investment or cashflow."

Meanwhile Clydesdale Bank's financial solutions centre in Croydon has reported lending up by 70 per cent and deposits growing by 28 per cent.

Fred Wakelin, managing partner of the Croydon FSC, said: "As well as standing by our current clients, we have a strong appetite for helping well-run businesses grow and succeed. We are committed to further developing our support for new businesses in Croydon over the coming year."

Following the meeting, which took place on May 11, Croydon Business carried out a presentation to almost 30 local banking business account managers representing more than 4,000 businesses to ensure they would pass onto their clients details of the various financial support schemes available.

The Banks Summit formed part of Croydon's Economic Recovery Plan which aims to help local people and businesses survive the recession. The plan was drawn up earlier this year by Croydon Council and Croydon Business in partnership with a range of key agencies, including South London Business, Croydon College, JobCentre Plus, Croydon Enterprise, Envibe, Safer Croydon, Croydon Business Venture, Business Link, and Croydon Voluntary Action. The plan is currently being led by the new Croydon Economic Development Company. Full details of the plan can be found at http://www.croydoncrunch.org/

Other successful Croydon Economic Recovery Plan initiatives to date include:

The supply of a wide range of advice for experiencing redundancy as well as those remaining in employment with changed financial circumstances. Assistance is available in areas such as debt management, mortgage and rent repayments, housing, energy costs, and access to benefits as well as health care.

Croydon Business and Croydon Enterprise providing a range of advice to businesses in order to help them avoid making any unnecessary job cuts. All business are being encouraged to take advantage of the Learning and Skills Council's (LSC) Train to Gain' programme to heighten their employees' skills
A hotline (020 8680 6161) for businesses to access confidential support and advice. This has been accompanied by free one to one assistance, business health checks and a programme of seminars and events on surviving the recession.
The creation of a one stop shop to help people looking to work in Croydon's busy shopping centre. JobCentre Plus, Croydon College and Croydon Business have teamed up to fund the scheme which would see a shop opened in the Whitgift Centre where jobseekers could receive all the help, advice and skills training they need to fill vacancies in Croydon's retail hub. Contracts are currently being signed and the scheme should be up and running by September.
Public bodies and businesses have been asked to sign up to a speedy payment scheme to help local businesses improve cashflow. Croydon Council was the first to sign the 10-day payment pledge.
A Shop Local Campaign to encourage Croydon residents to support local shops and there is also a Vacant Shops scheme, which seeks to bring empty shops back to life as youth cafes or venues for arts festivals. A pilot scheme is due to be launched in Crystal Palace in June where Croydon Enterprise is supporting a scheme by local artists to display their work in vacant shop fronts.
Full details can be found at http://www.croydoncrunch.org/