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<p>Our aim is to make the UK the best place to start, scale up and grow a business
and the Government is helping small businesses across the whole of the UK access the
finance and support they need to succeed.</p><p> </p><p>The British Business Bank’s
(BBB) programmes are currently supporting over £7.4 billion of finance to over 93,000
small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) across the UK. Since launching in 2012,
the BBB Start-Up Loans programme has issued over 3,500 loans in Scotland, averaging
£7,200 each and worth over £25m in total. This includes 102 Start-Up Loans totalling
£607,358 to companies in the Linlithgow and East Falkirk constituency.</p><p> </p><p>In
addition to its lending and investment activity, BBB’s online Finance Hub helps business
owners to find the right finance options for their needs.</p><p> </p><p>Government
has taken further steps in recent years to support the growth of small businesses
across the UK, including cutting corporation tax to 19 per cent and increasing the
employment allowance from £2,000 to £3,000 to benefit around 1m businesses. Reforms
and reliefs to business rates, are worth £13 billion over the next five years.</p><p>
</p><p> </p><p>All businesses in Scotland, including your constituency may use the
Scottish Government’s dedicated website to find out about and access business support
via <a href="https://findbusinesssupport.gov.scot/" target="_blank">https://findbusinesssupport.gov.scot/</a>
or by telephone: 0300 303 0660. (Monday to Friday, 09:30am to 5:30pm.)</p>
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