One of the West Midlands leading non-bank business lenders, BCRS Business Loans, has smashed its delivery targets to distribute government funding to local businesses.

Since securing Regional Growth Fund (RGF) monies in 2012, BCRS Business Loans has successfully delivered over £12 million to support the growth of local West Midlands businesses.

BCRS Business Loans Paul Kalinauckas, Chief Executive, said: “BCRS has always been a supportive voice for businesses in our region and has gone to great lengths to provide finance to those in the small business sector unable to access bank funding.

“By distributing all of our allocated RGF funding we have been able to issue loans to over 358 businesses, which has collectively helped to generate an extra £119 million of benefit to the West Midlands economy. We are immensely proud to say that this loan fund has also had a significant impact on local employment. Since 2012, over 1,071 jobs have been safeguarded and 2,604 jobs have been created.

“It is even more impressive when you consider that we completed this project 6 months earlier than expected, after we were initially given a completion date of June 2016.”

This achievement comes on the back of a record-breaking year for BCRS Business Loans, after it lent over £6.5 million in 2015 to support the growth of over 180 businesses that, otherwise, would not have been able to secure finance from traditional lenders, such as banks.

The not-for-profit lender was established in 2002 to help bridge the increasing lending gap that many SMEs face when sourcing business finance. BCRS Business Loans believe in SMEs and realise how crucial they are for the prosperity of local communities.

Offering a sought-after personal, relationship-based approach to lending, BCRS provide loans ranging from £10,000 to £150,000.

“Thanks to a set of robust and responsible lending policies, BCRS has once again been able to meet the funding needs of many local businesses, and will continue to do so. Statistics also demonstrate what excellent value for money this was. With a cost per job of £5,732.26 for each one safeguarded and £2,357.91 for each one created, the cost of this project dwarfs the total amount generated in the economy as a whole,” concluded Paul.

Any West Midlands based business can expect a fast response when they apply for a loan to BCRS either by contacting 0845 313 8410 or by submitting an enquiry form at www.bcrs.org.uk