About
SWIG Finance operates across the South West of England. It provides loans and business support to South West businesses that are either starting up or need finance to grow. Its parent company, South West Investment Group Ltd, is a not-for-profit distributing company established in 1989 to raise and provide gap finance for local businesses for the purposes of economic development.
This case study demonstrates how CITR and EFG can be used together to leverage commercial investment.
Using CITR with EFG
The Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme (EFG) is a guarantee programme that incentivises investment into small and micro businesses that are viable but would otherwise likely find it difficult to access finance due to lack of security. It provides the lender with a government-backed 75% guarantee against the outstanding facility balance.
In 2017, HM Treasury approved the use of EFG on loans made with CITR investment. EFG and CITR used together provide the return and risk cover to attract new investment into the CDFI sector.
Amount Raised
SWIG Finance has increased the size of its loan fund for West Country SMEs through raising further investment from Triodos bank. The fund, now worth £5.1m is backed by the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme (EFG) and Community Investment Tax Relief (CITR).
The fund provides loans of up to £100,000. Since it commenced lending in September 2018, investment totalling £500,000 has been approved for 14 growing small businesses throughout the region. Beneficiaries span a diversity of sectors and include an organic vegetable and herb growing business, a marine engineering firm, a commercial cleaners and a software developer.
For more information visit www.swigfinance.co.uk