New speculative residential development funder

The interest rate is lower than most of the competition but the fees are perhaps slightly higher. Whilst the cost of such borrowing continues to be relatively high, it is good to see that there are now viable options available for the long-suffering developer. Please contact us direct for futher information.

‘Access 2 Finance’ scheme launched

BIS has just launched the excellent new Access 2 Finance scheme which provides 'growth' businesses with an opportunity to receive much-needed help and assistance at this difficult time.

The scheme is not completely fully funded but provides a significant contribution (up to 70% assistance) towards fund-raising and investment projects.

We are delighted to have been accredited as approved providers of the scheme here at RedSky - one of only a select few!

SMART Grants for R & D

Whilst the availability of grant funding in the region has diminished markedly over the past 12 months, we bring good news for all of those with technically innovative projects. R & D grants are available through the Technology Strategy Board, and having just secured £245k for a client in South Yorkshire, we would be happy to talk to anyone who would like to know more. Please contact our Grant Specialist Steve on 07866 948746 or steveg@red-sky.co.uk.

Access to Finance – RedSky’s 3 Point Plan

We deal with businesses every day requiring funding so we see first hand the issues they are facing with regard to accessing appropriate levels of funding.

 Whilst we appreciate this is a complicated matter, we believe there are three main aspects to the issue which, if implemented, would significantly improve access to funding for SME’s. In simple terms they are as follows:

1. Professional Help

Recent statistics show that only 20% of SME’s receive any professional assistance when approaching banks and other lenders. The success rate for those 20% is high – conversely, there is a very high rate of declines for those going it alone (of this category, many briefly approach their bank and are turned aside quickly, thereby missing the official statistics).

We believe there should be a simple, low-cost support mechanism introduced to assist SME’s, possibly via The Chamber, FSB etc. This would involve assessing the most appropriate funding solutions and producing a short (3 or 4 page) funding proposal together with submitting the appropriate supporting financial information.

2. Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme

The EFG scheme is, in principal, a good one, but it’s usage by banks is poor. We come across many instances daily where the scheme should have been used by banks but they have been reluctant to use it for a variety of reasons.

 The scheme should be reviewed and banks ‘encouraged’ to utilise the scheme to a larger extent.

3.Bank Declines

We would introduce a mechanism to review bank declines for appropriate funding solutions. We understand there is a proposed CDFI Referral Scheme being considered via the BBA for such declines but this, in our opinion, does not fully address the issue.

 Usually it is a complicated issue and, in our experience, the appropriate solution usually requires a combination of funding options rather than a simple loan.

 

  

RedSky Bank Video Released

The film focuses on what the banks look for when lending money and what has recently changed since the credit crunch. Despite the adverse media reaction to the banks, we have had a good rate of success sourcing funding for our clients by putting ourselves in the shoes of the lender.

The video and a copy of the script  are available on this site.

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