£250,000 for region’s businesses raised through share offer

ART Business Loans (ART) has announced it has £250,000 to lend to West Midlabds businesses following the success of its recent share offer.

The cash was raised from individual investors, who will earn Community Investment Tax Relief (CITR) over the next five years, while their money – distributed in business loans – helps to boost the local economy.

Five per cent of the sum invested can be claimed as a deduction from income tax or corporation tax bills each year for five tax years.

The money from the share offer will be used to leverage additional funding, bringing the total ART has to lend in 2019/20 close to £3m.

“We have been here for over 21 years,” says Dr Steve Walker, chief executive of ART Business Loans. “Lending to viable businesses unable to access the finance they need from the banks. When the going gets tough, we are needed more than ever, and have a track record of helping SMEs to continue trading through loss of customers or markets, as well as glitches in cashflow.  In the short term that has protected thousands of jobs and in the longer term helped to create thousands more around the West Midlands.”

Building on the success of this year’s offer, ART is planning to provide a further opportunity for investors through the investment platform Ethex using CITR in the tax year 2019/20.

“We are appreciative of those individuals who choose to invest their money to help us achieve our mission to ensure that businesses with viable plans can access the finance they need,” said Walker.  “Our aim is inclusive growth.  Interestingly, throughout our history it has not only been local people who have invested in us to support the West Midlands, but people from all over the UK.”

In the year ahead Walker said the ART team is looking forward to helping businesses of all kinds – from restaurants to providers of hi-tech solutions, manufacturers to facilities managers.

 

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