Vince Cable: Business lending to get £30m boost
Three lenders are to get access to £30m of government funds to boost the funding of small businesses.
They will share a pot of money aimed at small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), according to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
By attracting money from private investors as well, the pool of credit available will rise to more than £70m.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said it was an "important boost for non-traditional lenders".
The three lenders are Market Invoice, URICA and Beechbrook Capital.
The money comes from the small business tranche of the Business Finance Partnership, through which the government has committed to provide £100m of funding to diversify the sources of finance available to SMEs.
Currently, 85% of all business loans are handled by the big four banks.
"A lack of access to finance is still choking off too many small businesses, preventing them from growing, taking on new staff or investing in new equipment," Mr Cable said.