Loan fund provides £1.5m to small businesses in 2015

Over 70 small business in Northern Ireland have benefitted from the Northern Ireland Small Business Loan Fund (the Fund) this year, as it confirms today that upwards of £1.5m has been made available during 2015.

The Fund is managed by Ulster Community Investment plc (UCI) on behalf of Invest Northern Ireland and delivered in partnership with Enterprise Northern Ireland. UCI is a subsidiary of social finance organisation Ulster Community Investment Trust (UCIT).

The Fund has helped support companies from a wide range of sectors including IT, leisure, tourism, food processing, construction and many others. Funding has been provided for general start-up costs, refurbishment and repairs, machinery, franchise development, exporting in addition to working capital finance to finance expansion.

Chief Executive of UCIT, Harry McDaid, said that the Fund had surpassed expectations: “At this stage we have assisted over 200 SME businesses aggregating debt support over £4 million and the demand continues to grow. These are businesses – both start up and established, which cannot access finance through conventional channels yet they are managed by passionate and competent promoters who have put their capital at risk and in the process translated their plans to cash flow and job creation.

“The Fund is also open to social enterprises and a number of organisations in that broad sector have availed of it. These included a community café, dance studio and a print works. We are delighted to be able to support these businesses in their growth ambitions and to help many others get off the ground.
William McCulla, Director of Corporate Finance at Invest NI commented: “This is excellent news for small businesses in Northern Ireland and for the Small Business Loan Fund which plays an important role in supporting the vital growth of businesses in Northern Ireland.

“Northern Ireland is home to a wealth of talented businesses which are a major contributor to our economy and it is only right that we support them as best we can. We know that it can sometimes be hard for these businesses to raise funds for projects and the availability of the small business loan fund can make all the difference.

“Reaching this milestone clearly shows that there is a definite need for this fund and we would encourage ambitious businesses to contact the fund managers and apply for this loan scheme.”

Michael Carlin, NI Small Business Loan Fund Manager said: “Demand for this fund is still high and is servicing a gap in the market for both early stage and existing businesses looking to grow.

“Our funding is complimentary to other sources of business finance within the marketplace and in many cases has helped to leverage mainstream bank support. Our application process has also been welcomed by clients with a 2-3 week turnaround time and dedicated loan executive’s available to help with any issues during the assessment or post loan draw down.”

One of the companies to have recently benefitted from the Fund is Newtownards-based Shnuggle, who received a £40,000 loan to cover working capital finance. Shnuggle was formed in 2009 by husband and wife team, Sinead and Adam Murphy. The company designs and manufactures a range of award winning baby products including an innovative and hypoallergenic modern mosses basket. Its products are currently being sold in 22 countries, with stockists including John Lewis, Mamas & Papas, Mothercare and Argos.

Sinead Murphy, Business Development Director at Shnuggle said: “The business started out six years ago in our garage and we never imagined it would have grown to the heights it has. We have recently secured a listing with Tesco and Tesco Direct for our products which will go live in the next two months.

“The loan from the Northern Ireland Small Business Loan Fund has enabled us to purchase stock to keep up with the high demand for our products. We want to keep developing and designing innovative products. We currently have a team of four but will look to take on a graphic designer and some marketing staff in the future.”

The Northern Ireland Small Business Loan Fund provides access to finance for small businesses, sole traders and partnerships which are keen to develop their business, but find it difficult to access funding through traditional sources. Those interested in finding out more about the Fund can visit www.nisblf.com