HIGH street banks in the region have come under fire for not properly promoting the Government's Small Firm Loan Guarantee (SFLG), which encourages banks and other financial institutions to lend money to businesses when they may not normally do so.
The scheme was first introduced in 1981 to help small firms that were and still are unable to raise conventional finance.
To be eligible, you must be a UK company with an yearly turnover of no more than £3m £5m if you are a manufacturer.
The Government's Small Business Service guarantees 75 per cent of the loan, which is available for periods of two to 10 years on sums from £5,000 to £100,000.
Richard Houghton, South West spokesman for the Association of Chartered Accountants said: "The high street banks responsible for 97 per cent of all SFLG schemes present hurdles to the current take-up of the scheme.
"They display a distinct lack of common policy on the SFLG, with the criteria used to access and process the applications varying between them."
Indeed, Government figures show that only 3,916 SFLG guarantees were issued during the last financial year.
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