Pictured above: Paul Kalinauckas, chief executive, BCRS; Cllr Darren Cooper, Leader, Sandwell Council

Following its success as an alternative route to finance for small businesses in Sandwell, a new £1m Sandwell Business Loan Fund has been launched.

The Sandwell Business Loan Fund (SBLF) is managed by Black Country Reinvestment Society (BCRS) in conjunction with Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council. It was introduced in 2009 as a £750,000 fund available to Sandwell based businesses experiencing difficulty accessing funds from banks.

Since the scheme was launched, the SBLF has helped 19 small businesses with an average loan amount of £22,000. Loans of between £10k and £50k are available to local viable Sandwell based businesses. 

Cllr Darren Cooper, Leader of Sandwell Council, said:

"Sandwell Council will continue to invest in this project because we feel that it is of real advantage to small businesses in this area. I am trying to position the Council to a point where we are ready to support entrepreneurs and businesses in Sandwell when the economic downturn turns the corner, so we will be ready to help companies create the jobs and wealth we need to become a more affluent borough for the future.

"The Sandwell Business Loan Fund has brought real benefit to lots of local businesses already and it's a project that I wholeheartedly support. We're now encouraging other Black Country authorities to follow our lead."

The news of the loan increase has come at a time when employment figures for the West Midlands show that the region again has the highest rate of unemployment in the UK, with 265,000 out of work, representing 10 per cent of the region's working population.

Paul Kalinauckas, chief executive of BCRS, said;

"We've proved the success of the Sandwell Business Loan Fund and are now extending it by another £1million. It's a good example of collaboration between a local authority and a cooperative loan fund that ensures that local businesses can access finance to service orders and to grow their businesses when they can't get it from the banks.

"Sandwell were the first to commit to this model and following its success we hope that the other Black Country authorities will follow soon. Walsall Council is coming on board imminently and we hope that Dudley and Wolverhampton local authorities will follow suit soon. We have lent more money in Sandwell than any other part of the Black Country as a result of Sandwell being a very proactive council. We would now like to balance this out across the Black Country but we need the support of other local authorities to do this. The unemployment statistics for this area prove that the situation is still critical and that businesses continue to need all the help they can get to access finance."