Funding for Small Businesses in the Midst of Doom, Gloom and Brexit
Business Enterprise Fund (BEF) is a not for profit lender that provides finance to small businesses that have been unable to access their full need from mainstream lenders.
We lend up to £50,000 on an unsecured basis and up to £150,000 secured. We also deliver Start Up Loans – a Government fund designed to help pre-start and young businesses.
For the last 12 years, all of our lending has been delivered to have both a positive and lasting impact on the economy, but the biggest interest, over the last year, has been in Start Up Loans. This is a sign of a changing economy where individuals, for various reasons, are leaving the workplace to start up on their own. To these fledgling businesses, access to finance is vital.
When we meet our clients, we often hear of difficulty in accessing finance from mainstream lenders. Since the fallout of 2008, mainstream lenders have been forced to tighten their belts. In this time alternative lenders of all shapes and sizes have emerged, often bringing with them new approaches and technology, ‘disrupting’ the industry.
As BEF grows to cater for the demand, we are contributing to the effort to make finance accessible. Working closely with banks to ‘fill the funding gap’ our aim is to break down barriers to the finance that the UK’s businesses require to survive, thrive, grow and innovate.
Because of Brexit fears fuelling a perception of an ‘unknown future’, the economy sits in a delicate balance. In this landscape BEF remain resilient and flexible, to work to the needs of small businesses.