Need some funding to help you grow?

29th June 2011

This article is from Business Gateway

In response to the interest generated from the funding article in the previous e-zine, we thought it would be useful to highlight a few other potential sources of finance available to growing businesses.

We receive thousands of enquiries every year on the subject of funding and although Business Gateway is not a funding body, we regularly point clients in the direction of sources of finance and can advise on the various issues surrounding funding applications.

The Scottish Investment Bank (SIB) is a division of Scottish Enterprise that provides investment funds to support company growth in Scotland.

SIB operates a suite of investment funds. The Scottish Loan Fund will negotiate loans with companies on a fully commercial basis and is aimed at established companies. The other funds adopt a highly innovative co-investment and shared risk intervention model to encourage more private investors to invest in early stage Scottish companies with high growth potential.

The other funds include The Scottish Seed Fund (SSF), which is managed by the SIB and is designed to improve the availability of finance for start-up and young growing companies in Scotland. The SSF can invest between £20,000 and £100,000 on an equity basis in early stage businesses that meet the SSF criteria and are keen to grow.

For companies looking for higher levels of finance, the SIB manages the Scottish Co-Investment Fund and the Scottish Venture Fund.

It is important to note that the SIB is not regulated by the Financial Services Authority and does not accept deposits or provide general banking services.

For more information on any of the SIB Funds, go to http://www.scottish-enterprise.com/fund-your-business/scottish-investment-bank.aspx

If you are looking for some financial support to help with training costs it may be worthwhile looking at the Skills Development Scotland's Flexible Training Opportunities programme.

The initiative gives Scottish businesses with up to 150 employees the opportunity to apply for up to £5,000 towards employee training costs.

Funding is available for up to 10 employees per business and the money is not a loan so there's no need to pay it back.

Details of how to apply can be found on the Skills Development Scotland website www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/

These are just examples of funding that could be available for your business. By visiting the support finder on the Business Gateway site and answering three quick questions you can find out what options are open to you in securing finance for your business.

See Business Gateway web site at www.bgateway.com