BCRS Business Loans has provided a £27,000 grant to Purple Shoots to support the growth of more small businesses and those starting their own businesses across Wales.
BCRS, which is committed to supporting the Welsh economy, has provided the evergreen grant to Purple Shoots which will now be used to provide micro loans (up to £5,000) to budding businesspeople to support their business aspirations.
Pontypridd-based Purple Shoots, a not-for-profit micro finance organisation and a registered charity, has been working to support entrepreneurs since 2013, helping them to secure finance when access to traditional funding streams seem difficult. The grant has been provided as part of BCRS’ commitment to support community development finance institutions (CDFIs).
Stephen Deakin, Chief Executive at BCRS Business Loans, explains:
“We are proud to be working in Wales to help small businesses up and down the country with their growth plans.
“The funding we have provided to Purple Shoots allows us to increase our impact by supporting an organisation that provides incredibly important support in a different area of the market to us.
“Through its lending and self-support groups, Purple Shoots really changes people’s lives and as an impact-driven lender it made sense for us to provide this grant. As an organisation they do so much with relatively small amounts of funding, and it is a shame that they had to pause their lending for four months last year.
“I hope other lenders, organisations and individuals will follow our lead and provide financial support to Purple Shoots to support the life changing work they do.”
As the money received is a grant, Purple Shoots will not be required to pay back the funding. As an evergreen grant, all repayments made will be recycled into further micro loans to support even more businesses.
Karen Davies, CEO at Purple Shoots, said:
“We are extremely grateful for the support from BCRS, and this funding will enable us to positively impact those businesses that need it.
“We have such a great demand for our lending and rely on grants like this to help us meet it. We are hopeful that other organisations will see the impact and will be inspired to follow BCRS’ lead.”
Stephen added:
“BCRS are a story-based lender, and, like Purple Shoots, we support businesses that often find it difficult to access finance through traditional routes.
“We know the positive impact micro loans can have to SMEs and entrepreneurs and hope that many will flourish as a result of the grant.”
Purple Shoots is a registered charity tackling poverty, unemployment, financial exclusion and social isolation through inspiring and enabling entrepreneurship. It operates throughout Wales and in parts of England.
In Wales, BCRS is the fund manager for the smaller loans fund (£25,000 to £100,000) for the British Business Bank’s £130 million Investment Fund for Wales
Since BCRS was founded as a community development financial institution in 2002, it has provided loans worth more than over £95 million to businesses across the West Midlands and Wales. A social impact report for the last financial year showed BCRS lent £5.8 million to 72 businesses, safeguarding 675 jobs and creating 186 roles, adding £29.9 million in value to the economy of the West Midlands, surrounding regions and Wales.
