Helping your business in 2009

In this current economic climate running a small business can be challenging.

In addition to our UK-wide network of Business Managers, we offer practical support in our ‘Trading through the Economic Downturn’ (367kb PDF) and ‘Helping your Business in 2009’ (239kb PDF) and ‘A practical guide to cashflow and finances’ (219kb PDF) guides. We also provide access to traditional and packaged funding plus we have committed to making available an additional £3 billion of lending to small businesses in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2009.

Access to these funds and our free professional advice can support you in helping your business survive the economic downturn.

An additional £3 billion of funds
To support UK businesses in 2009, we’re making an additional £3 billion of funds available to small and medium-sized businesses through our Regional SME Funds.

Enterprise Finance Guarantee - Helping businesses get credit
Since the launch of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee by the government on 14 January 2009, we’re now able to lend to customers for whom traditional bank lending would not have been available.

Price Promise and Committed Overdraft
RBS have given a commitment not to increase small business customer's overdraft pricing until the end of 2009. We also pledge to continue to provide committed overdrafts to businesses for the agreed committed period, which means that their overdraft facility will stay in place for 12 months from the date of agreement.

The launch of our SME Regional Funds provides a number of new initiatives to deliver £3 billion of new funding to our customers, offering the opportunity to access other avenues to help manage capital and cashflow through the current economic downturn.

This further commitment to the small business sector will be delivered through twelve Regional SME Funds in England, Wales and Scotland and Northern Ireland. Ulster Bank will provide the Fund for Northern Ireland's business. The funding is aligned to each of the Government Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) across the UK and will provide you as a customer with a comprehensive package of funding choices.

The SME Regional Funds are a key mechanism to provide additional funding to SMEs in line with our commitment to Government to increase lending to businesses across the UK in 2009.

Our existing funding solutions:

Our lowest ever loan rate to make borrowing more affordable: We have reduced the rates on our small business loans. What’s more, the loan is unsecured and is free from any fees (available for a limited period only).

Interest-only loans to help free up your cash flow in the next two years: In the first two years with our Trading Business Loan you pay interest only. This five-year loan can be fixed or variable and after the first two years, repayments increase to repay the loan.

Reduced margins on business term loans and more funding to help businesses raise finance at the right price: We have secured £250 million from the European Investment Bank which we are making available to customers looking to borrow over £25,000, at a reduced interest margin compared to standard term loans.

Invoice Finance with bad debt protection and support to manage payments from customers: If any of your customers become formally insolvent bad debt protection may protect from loss of any unpaid invoices.

Asset Finance to unlock the value of the assets in your business: Asset finance can help you to work your capital harder. You can lease the asset for a period to match any underlying contract or expected usage.

Don’t let your business face unnecessary risk, get in touch with your local Business Manager to see how you can access a share of the funding through one of the many product options available

Launched by the Government on 14 January 2009, the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme supports us in lending to customers where traditional bank lending would not have been available. It provides the Bank with a partial guarantee (75%) from the Government on borrowing, and means we are now able to offer qualifying businesses loans of up to £1 million.

Loans supported by the EFG scheme can be used for a wide variety of purposes, including working capital and other business expenditure, and are available to most businesses.

So, what is EFG all about?

Q. What is it?
A. The £1 billion EFG Scheme will support up to £1.3 billion of new lending by banks to viable SMEs with working capital or investment needs.

Q. Who will benefit from the scheme?
A. The EFG Scheme is open to businesses with an annual turnover of up to £25 million, seeking loans of £1,000 to £1 million, repayable over a period of between 3 months and 10 years. Most businesses in most sectors will be eligible for the scheme. However, the coal sector is excluded from the scheme and there are restrictions to some parts of the agriculture sector.

Q. What types of lending will this cover?
A. The guarantee can be used to support new loans, refinance existing loans or to convert part or all of an existing overdraft into a loan to release capacity to meet working capital needs. However this funding cannot be used to refinance existing loans solely for the purpose of releasing equity.

Q. How much of the loan will Government guarantee?
A. Government will guarantee 75 per cent of the loan.

Q. How long will the scheme run for?
A. EFG will be available from Wednesday 14 January 2009 and will operate until March 2010.

Q. Does the EFG charge any interest?
A. If you qualify for the BERR guarantee and take a loan under the EFG scheme, in addition to your regular loan repayments and any arrangement fee paid to the Bank you need to pay a premium to BERR. Paid quarterly to aid cashflow, the premium is based on 2% per annum on the reducing loan balance.

If you think your business could benefit from EFG funding, then get in touch with your local Business Manager for further support and guidance.

To support your business, we have produced useful guides which offer specific advice and guidance to help keep your business trading through the current economic climate. These guides, in easy-to-read PDF format, are free to view, download or print out.

A practical guide to cashflow and finances (July 2009)

Advice on maintaining a healthy cashflow and achieving profitability, with a guide to the type of information banks look at when making lending decisions. The guide includes:

• Cashflow
• Profitability
• Financial Information required by banks
• Where to go for further help
• Templates to help you with cashflow

• Download our practical guide to cashflow and finances (PDF, 219KB)

Helping your business in 2009 (February 2009)

This guide explains how we are helping businesses in the year ahead, including the additional £3 billion of funds available to SME's in the UK and new and existing product initiatives to help more businesses and finally the business lifeline which provides business advice over the phone:

• New initiatives to help your business
• More money to help more customers
• Helping you get paid and keep cash flowing
• Unlocking the value of the assets in your business
• Help to keep imports and exports moving
• Advice and more
• Q and A with Peter Ibbetson (Chairman, Small Business)

• Download our Helping your business in 2009 guide (PDF, 239kb)

Trading through the economic downturn (November 2008)

Expert advice on key business issues, with an emphasis on improving your business's cashflow in the face of tough trading conditions. The guide includes:

• Managing your cashflow
• Cashflow forecasts
• Dealing with bad debt
• Profit is sanity
• Spread your risk
• Getting Help

• Download our Guide to Trading through the Economic Downturn (PDF, 367kb)

We offer a wide range of products and services to help keep your business strong and cashflow healthy, including:

Committed Overdraft and Price Promise - A commitment to keep overdrafts for small businesses in place for a whole year and not increase pricing on overdrafts until at least the end of 2009.

Business loans - re-financing with one of our Business Loans could help ease cashflow. Find out more about our lowest business loan rate ever.

Asset and lease finance - if you need to acquire new business assets, we could help you do it a highly cost-effective way.

Invoice finance - improve cashflow by turning outstanding invoices into working capital.

Business Status Alerts - help protect your business against bad credit risks, by keeping informed about your customers' and suppliers' credit status.

Business savings - if you do have surplus cash, it's more important than ever to ensure it's working hard for you.

Daily economic update - keep bang up-to-date with the latest economic news and events.