THE Northern Ireland Small Business Loan Fund has broken through the £3.5 million mark, two years after it was set up.
The fund, which will total £5m, is managed by Ulster Community Investment (UCI) on behalf of Invest Northern Ireland and delivered in partnership with Enterprise Northern Ireland.
It provides access to finance for small companies, sole traders and partnerships which are keen to develop their business but find it difficult to access funding through traditional sources.
UCI chief executive Harry McDaid, said: “Since the fund began in 2013 we have approved 165 loans totalling in excess of £3.5m.
"The fund has helped support companies from a wide range of sectors including IT, leisure, tourism, food processing, construction and many others. Funding has been provided for general start-up costs, refurbishment and repairs, machinery, franchise development, exporting as well as working capital finance.
“The fund is also open to social enterprises and a number of organisations in that broad sector have availed of it. These included a community café, dance studio and a print works. We are delighted to be able to support these businesses in their growth ambitions and to help many others get off the ground.”
William McCulla, director of corporate finance at Invest NI added: “When Invest NI set up the Small Business Loan Fund our aim was to ensure SME’s had access to finance to support growth and development.
“To have distributed over £3.5m in loans in the first two years demonstrates the real need for this Fund. It is making a substantial difference to small businesses here by boosting business confidence and helping Northern Ireland SMEs to grow from strength to strength.
“The level of appetite from businesses showcases the growing ambition of our small businesses which is excellent news for the Northern Ireland economy.”
One of the companies to recently benefit from the Fund is Keen Nutrition which used its loan for fixed and working capital investment.
Keen Nutrition was established in 2013, offering a healthy alternative to peanut butter with its range of nut flavoured butters and chocolate spreads. The business is producing around 20,000 units a month and distributing its products across the UK and the Republic as well as listing successfully on Amazon UK and Harvey Nichols.
Aimee Beimers, Managing Director of Keen Nutrition said: “As an innovative company we are always trying to bring new products to market to compete in a highly competitive sector. Just this month we launched a new flavour of butter - almond coconut, which is already proving to be very popular.
“We approached the Small Business Loan Fund because we needed to purchase a new commercial oven which has helped us to develop further business and sales opportunities with large retailers such as Marks and Spencer and Dunnes Stores. The fund’s ongoing support for our business has been fantastic and has allowed us to take on three more staff.”
