The County Council has agreed to deposit an additional £20 million pounds of its normal cash flow in NatWest to enable the bank to boost lending opportunities for local businesses as the county starts to climb out of recession.
The additional deposit will be subject to the same security as the Council's other existing deposits with NatWest and other banks but it enables the bank to increase the amount of money available specifically for lending to East Sussex firms.
Council Leader Peter Jones says the decision is a 'win-win' as it does not expose the Council and its taxpayers to any additional risk but is another action that the County Council is taking to help local firms to battle through the current hard economic times.
“This is a fantastic scheme that could potentially help many of our firms and help to boost the local economy,” said Councillor Jones. “It is also a great example of the County Council working with one of its own partners, in this case its own banker, to assist the local community.
“The scheme is a winner not only for businesses but also for the Council and local taxpayers. I hope that this extra funding will help many East Sussex businesses to access funds that could help them through their current economic difficulties. And because this money is part of our normal cash deposits, and subject to our normal bank security requirements, there is no additional risk to the Council or the council taxpayers.”
Robert Clare, Regional Director of Business and Commercial Banking at NatWest in Sussex commented: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with East Sussex County Council assisting local businesses through their current economic difficulties. We are working hard to help our customers access the correct finance solutions for their needs and this is a great example of how we can team up with a reputable body to achieve this.
“This does not represent any additional risk for the County Council and the arrangement supports NatWest's commitment to lend to businesses in the county.”
Councillor Jones says that the new bank arrangement is part of the Council's broader strategy to fight the impacts of the recession. He said: “Last year, we agreed a separate £1m fighting fund that is being used for a number of projects such as employment support, job creation and access to fair credit. Recently, we topped up that recession fund with an additional £250,000 and we'll continue to look at ways that we can help our residents and businesses to help themselves out of this recession.”
Businesses interested in finding more information about the project should contact Robert Clare, Regional Director of Business and Commercial Banking at NatWest on 07713 988440.
Reference:
2740
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