Chancellor Commends Business Project

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has addressed a grassroots meeting of ‘Doing Business Together’ (DBT) project, which aims to improve the provision of commercial finance by bringing banks and businesses together in the spirit of dialogue, transparency and information-sharing. Speaking at the event (Feb 25) Mr Osborne said: “I commend you for what you have done with the Doing Business Together initiative. It is essential that we do all we can to ensure that finance is available for small businesses, enabling them to try to grow. I hope you in the small business community are seeing that the banks are starting to lend more. My priority is to get the banks lending and I congratulate projects like this.”

Approximately 250 small business owners, bank representatives, credit rating agencies, trade credit insurers and brokers were given the opportunity to question the Chancellor directly .They were joined at the event, which took place in Mr Osborne’s Tatton constituency, by employer associations, local government officials and trade bodies, including FPB which hosted the event. Information about financial services, including those provided by alternatives to traditional high street lenders as well as the main banks, was available to help business owners and their accountants maximise the funding options available to them. Doing Business Together (DBT) is a Not-for-Profit organisation - including the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), British Bankers’ Association (BBA), Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), main banks, asset backed lenders, credit rating agencies, trade credit insurers, accounting bodies, employer and trade associations and service providers to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) - whose aim it is to help SMEs manage their own businesses better and obtain the finance and credit they require. The group has gained support from 35 leading UK organisations, including the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS)