Community lending specialist BCRS Business Loans added almost £30 million in value to the economy through funding delivered in the last financial year, new figures show.
BCRS Business Loans, which works across Staffordshire the rest of the West Midlands and Wales helping SMEs unable to access finance from traditional sources, supported 72 businesses, safeguarding 675 jobs and creating 186 roles, according to the latest impact report.
Chief Executive Stephen Deakin updated members of the society on the co-operative business loan lending performance in the 2023/24 financial year at it latest annual general meeting.
The impact report showed BCRS Business Loans lent £5.8 million to 72 businesses, safeguarding 675 jobs and creating 186 roles while adding £29.9 million in value to the economy of the West Midlands, surrounding region and Wales. Manufacturing businesses borrowed the largest amount by sector, totalling £1 million.
Of the funding, 43 per cent went to the UK’s top 35 per cent most disadvantaged areas, with 18 per cent going to female-led businesses and 18 per cent to ethnic minority-led firms.
As a Community Development Finance Institution, BCRS Business Loans operates as a non-profit distributing company through a story-based approach to lending, enabling firms to access finance from between £10,000 and £250,000 to help grow and support recovery plans.
Mr Deakin said: “It was another challenging year economically but as a responsible lender we continued to lend when it was the right thing to do. Demand for lending has picked up significantly, which is promising for the current year.”
The most recent financial year also saw BCRS Business Loans named as a fund manager for smaller loans as part of the £130 million Investment Fund for Wales to increase the supply of finance to Welsh businesses which might otherwise not receive investment.
Chair, Paul Smee said: “We are taking what has proved so successful here and giving new customers the chance of benefiting from it. Our ethical compass is unchanged and unwavering. We will carry the standards by which we currently do business into our new responsibilities.”
