62 business owners across Scotland have received a loan from Business Loans Scotland to support the start-up and growth of their business.

Fully funded through the Scottish Growth Scheme and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), this Government backed loan fund has issued £4,073,175 to aspiring business owners across Scotland. Loans issued have been used for a variety of purposes including raising working capital, introducing new product lines, purchasing additional machinery and recruiting new employees to support an increase in consumer demand.

The fund, managed by Business Loans Scotland, strives to invest in new and growing Scottish SMEs by providing them with the funding required to achieve their growth ambitions. Loans from £25,000 to £100,000 are available with the average size of loan issued being £65,500.

One business to receive the maximum loan amount of £100,000 is security services company, Secureshield. Based in North Lanarkshire, Secureshield was formed as a result of a management buy-out of Scottish security company, Securus Group and in doing so, was able to safeguard 51 jobs in the process.

John Hunter, Director of Secureshield said:

“Our overall plan with the Management Buy Out was always to secure this type of funding however when we were introduced by Scottish Enterprise to Business Loans Scotland we couldn’t have asked for a better partnership. The straightforward clarity of the transaction and business growth understanding shown by BLS helped ease us through the MBO and put us in a more comfortable position to deal with other associated challenges.  This support enables us to move quickly in our stabilisation and growth planning in a demanding market.”

Andrew Dickson, Fund Manager for Business Loans Scotland, added:

“Individuals starting or growing a business can face many challenges and so, being able to provide these business owners with the funding they require to support them through that journey is invaluable.

Our loans provide Scottish SMEs with access to finance which they may have experienced difficulty in securing from other lenders and statistics show that businesses who have received a loan from BLS have been able to create new jobs and increase their turnover which in turn, has had a positive impact on employment and both the Scottish and local economies.”