Genesis Asset Finance has become an accredited lender under the British Business Bank’s (BBB) Enterprise Finance Guarantee programme.
Glossop-based Genesis provides hire purchase and lease finance. Focusing on helping smaller businesses potentially being underserved by banks and traditional lenders, the firm has lent £10m of funding since 2000.
The Enterprise Finance Guarantee provides lenders with a government backed guarantee for up to 75% of the outstanding balance of eligible facilities. It supports facilities of between £1,000 and £1.2m to smaller businesses that are viable but unable to obtain finance from their lender due to having inadequate security to meet the lender’s normal credit requirements.
Jim McAuley, director of guarantee and wholesale solutions at British Business Bank said: “The British Business Bank is committed to helping smaller UK businesses access the finance they need to realise their potential. Accrediting Genesis under the Asset Finance variant of the Bank’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee will enable them to support more smaller businesses that are working successfully, but which might otherwise struggle to acquire business critical equipment or machinery that can boost their growth.”
Andrew Frost, director of Genesis Asset Finance, said: “As a small lender we aim to go the extra mile to support the UK’s small businesses, including meeting every customer in person. Accreditation under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee programme enables us to extend our support even further, assisting more small businesses to access the finance they need.”
Since its launch in 2009, the Enterprise Finance Guarantee programme has supported smaller businesses with the provision of over 31,000 loans and other facilities totalling more than £3.3bn.
The BBB has provided £222m in support of asset finance in 2018/9, according to its annual results.
This included a £12m commitment from the BBI Investment Programme and £210m through the SME ENABLE funding scheme.
The BBB said it had funded over 89,000 businesses with £6.6bn of finance, a year-on-year increase of 27%.
