CASH-strapped firms in the region have been urged to bid for support from a new enterprise fund. 

Tees Valley-based Five Lamps has launched a new fund offering loans of up to £50,000 for businesses looking to grow. 

The first three loans made from the new fund have seen a total of £100,000 approved, enabling firms to create new jobs; provide essential working capital to enable business growth, and move into new premises.

Bill Erskine, Five Lamps’ director of finance & economic development is confident that there will be considerable demand for the new fund.

He said: “Five Lamps works with over 1,500 new and early-life businesses each year and we are aware of just how difficult it still is for these businesses to access the finance that they need to grow their business. This fund, resourced from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund, supplements our existing New Enterprise Allowance Loans and Start-Up Loans services."

The initiatve is backed by the Regional Growth Fund programme and is provided through the Community Development Finance Association. 

It provides loans to small, micro and social enterprises through the community finance sector. £30m is provided by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund, matched with a further £30m by the Co-operative Bank and Unity Trust Bank.