Member Article

Small construction firms boosted by Government credit scheme

Small construction companies have received a chas boost from a Government pilot scheme launched two months ago, to help small businesses and sole traders secure credit.

200 firms have already been helped by the scheme, which was initially aimed at the trade users of Kingfisher group of stores, who are the Tradepoint for Screwfix and B&Q.

So far the scheme has helped small companies secure credit of £500,000 with more trade customers preparing to use the scheme.

Finance was made available using an extension of the Government’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme, which aimed to make credit more widely available to viable construction businesses who were struggling to meet upfront material costs.

The Government said a lot of interest was shown in the scheme from across the different business sectors, and negotiations are underway with national and regional builders merchants.

A model is also under development that could pave the way for smaller businesses to participate through their trade association.

Business and Enterprise Minister Michael Fallon commented: “Conditions in the construction industry remain challenging, but taking an innovative view of how government support schemes are deployed, such as with EFG and the work with Kingfisher, can make a real difference to the sole traders and smallest firms that struggle to access credit.

“The success of the pilot scheme is encouraging so far, and rolling it out amongst other builders merchants nationally and locally will boost confidence among our smallest traders in the construction industry.”

Ian Cheshire, Group Chief Executive of Kingfisher plc, said: “The pilot is showing encouraging signs that trade customers of Screwfix and B&Q’s TradePoint are making good use of the extra credit available to them through the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme.

“Smaller business such as these will be a vital engine of economic growth for the UK so I’m pleased that we’re able to support that.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .