5 weeks on from delivering a total of £3 million worth of loans, Business Loans Scotland (BLS) has now issued an additional £500,000 to Scottish SMEs to support their ambitions to start-up or grow. The additional £500,000 secured by 7 businesses across Scotland takes the total number of businesses to receive loan funding from BLS to 55 and the total amount loaned to now exceed £3,500,000.

Fully funded through the Scottish Growth Scheme and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Business Loans Scotland is the Fund Manager for a £7 million loan fund which seeks to invest in new and growing Scottish SMEs.

The loans aim to ensure that businesses do not fail from a lack of access to finance and can be used for various purposes, including but not limited to, raising working capital, investing in new office premises, recruiting new employees and expanding into new markets.

With loans totalling £3,519,175 being issued across 22 Scottish local authority areas, businesses have been able to achieve their start-up or growth ambitions with the most recent loans being issued to support businesses during the Coronavirus outbreak, who have been looking to switch production or expand their business online via e-commerce routes of selling.

One company to recently receive funding through BLS during these challenging times is Dundee based manufacturer, Ecoanolytes. The Coronavirus outbreak placed significant demands on the company to deliver its hand sanitiser products and due to this increase, the business secured a £40,000 loan to support the team in purchasing an additional machine to ramp up production and meet the demand required.

“Being such a young company, with very limited resources, it is difficult to underestimate the value of the hand-holding provided by these organisations.” said Erik Smyth, company CEO. “After we received our loan from BLS, we were able to purchase the latest production equipment, enabling us to increase production and reduce our operational carbon footprint.” he went on to say.

The coronavirus outbreak has challenged everyone in our society, although not always in the same way. For Ecoanolytes, that challenge has and still is, to try and keep pace with demand for its Hypochlorous Acid based disinfection products. To meet that challenge the company has had to lease additional premises, invest in more effective business infrastructure, substantially increase its workforce and order yet more production equipment.

With £3.5 million worth of loan funding still available, Fund Manager of Business Loans Scotland, Andrew Dickson said:

“It’s fantastic to see so many businesses across Scotland achieving their start-up and growth aspirations as a result of receiving one of our loans. Since securing loans from BLS these businesses have been able to create new jobs and grow their turnover, which has resulted in an extremely positive impact on employment and the economy.”

He added:

“Since the Coronavirus outbreak, we’ve seen businesses who require finance to ramp up production or move their business online turn to BLS for funding to support them through this, and we are delighted to be able to help them. Our aim remains during the Coronavirus pandemic to provide Scottish businesses with access to the funding they require which will help them through the current economic climate and would encourage any SME across Scotland who may be looking for loan finance to speak with a member of our team to see how we can help.”

With businesses facing extremely challenging times due to the outbreak of Coronavirus, Business Loans Scotland continue to welcome applications from Scottish SMEs who are looking for loan finance to start-up or grow or those who are unable to retrieve funding through the Coronavirus support funds issued by the Government.

For more information or to find out if your business would be eligible for a loan, email info@bls.scot