MSIF adds £2.7m to small loans fund

THE Merseyside Special Investment Fund (MSIF) has raised further funds to increase the number of sub-£50,000 loans it can make.

It has secured £1.3m from the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) and matched this figure with bank funding.

The money can be used to fund start-ups and back small businesses in any sector over a three-year period to 2016.

MSIF’s chief operating officer Lisa Greenhalgh said: “The £2.7m of additional funds will ensure that we can continue to support entrepreneurs and businesses that need small loans to start or grow.

“Most importantly, it means that we have more money available to continue to provide finance to start-ups. New businesses are crucial to the local economy but they are the ones who find it most difficult to get funding from traditional sources. It is extremely hard for anyone without a track record to get funding to start a business. As many start-ups have not run a business previously, it becomes a Catch-22 situation when it comes to trying to raise finance to support an idea.

“Alongside the RGF money we have our own legacy funds meaning we have much more than £2.7m to invest at this level. We also have our start up loans programme which offers finance from as little as £250 to people aged 30 and under who want to start a business so we can offer lots of start up support.”