WIREDGOV

Business Secretary Vince Cable has yesterday announced a new partnership with UK bank Metro Bank to help boost the growth prospects for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

Metro Bank will support up to £100 million of lending for eligible businesses in London and the South East that are signed up to GrowthAccelerator, a Government-backed coaching service available to businesses with genuine potential for rapid and sustainable growth. RBS Natwest has also agreed to promote the service across its nationwide network to its UK SME customers, who currently make up 25 per cent of market share.

The Government’s £200 million GrowthAccelerator service matches eligible companies with business experts to identify barriers to growth and ways to overcome them. This can be on issues such as securing finance, commercialising innovation or developing leadership and management capability. Over 1,000 businesses have joined the programme since it was launched in May 2012.

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