Last week the British Business Bank released its figures showing that local businesses across North West Durham had received £62,642,750 from 1,961 Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans (CBIL) and Bounce Back Loans (BBL).
When the pandemic first hit and the country locked-down, the Government was keen to make sure no business suffered. The Chancellor of the Exchequer acted quickly to shore up British business with a generous set of loan schemes, funded through the British Business Bank, under the Department for Business. Richard Holden, MP for North West Durham, had from the start backed the Chancellor on this, clear that local business are not only vital for jobs in the towns and villages of North West Durham but are dearly loved.
The schemes ended in March and the last analysis, released this week, shows that over one and a half million businesses benefited from £79.3bn of loans, £26.4bn of which came through the CBIL and £47.4bn through the BBL. Across the North East, a total of 39,991 BBL, worth £1,107,108,820 and 1,520 CBILs, worth £344,024,099, had been provided.
Making the most of these loans people have been able to live through the pandemic. Now, having suffered no more than the rest of the country as a result, North West Durham is playing its part in the national recovery.
Commenting Richard Holden, MP for North West Durham said:
“Like with the recent Nissan investment in the North East, the Government has stood with business over these difficult last months.
“Business loan schemes with eight figure numbers can look abstract, what this means is that we have kept the people of North West Durham in jobs and almost 2,000 local businesses, alive.
“As the country powers out of the pandemic, it is great to see that the loans have worked as the Chancellor promised. Given the same help as the rest of the country, North West Durham business is starting up apace with the rest of the country.”