Lord Mandelson tells of loan scheme success ? commercial mortgages

23 February 2009

Business secretary Lord Mandelson has hailed the success of a government aid programme that could be beneficial for those with commercial mortgages.

The loan guarantee scheme, brought in to boost the flow of finance to companies, saw over £1 million of loans per day underwritten to firms within its first few weeks.

And since its launch, around 400 loans totalling more than £40 million have been offered and are currently being processed, Lord Mandelson revealed.

The scheme is set to guarantee an extra £1.3 billion of lending to small businesses over the course of a year.

Lord Mandelson said the figures show that the programme is "making a difference" to enterprises.

He added: "This targeted support is already helping hundreds of firms which would not have been able to secure finance without a government guarantee."

Meanwhile, research from the Finance and Leasing Association has found that companies in London are faring worse than others in the economic downturn, while those in Scotland and the north-east are bucking the trend and experiencing growth.