Grafton Merchanting Gives Electricians Direct Access to Government’s Trade Credit Enterprise Finance Guarantee

gazza — Mon, 07 Oct 2013 23:00:00 +0000

gazza Tue, 08/10/2013

Electricians, other trade professionals and small construction firms are set to benefit as Grafton Merchanting GB becomes the first national builders’ merchants to give tradesmen direct access to the government’s Trade Credit Enterprise Finance Guarantee (TCEFG) scheme, making credit easier to access and helping to reinvigorate the sector.
The initiative extends Grafton’s current Trade Credit Account terms as part of the Government-backed pilot scheme which is available until 31st March 2014, across all its businesses including Electricbase.
Doors will be opened through Grafton’s 400-strong national branch network to a wider group of construction trade professionals who would ordinarily have struggled to secure credit under the company’s existing credit policy through lack of proven track record or insufficient credit rating.
The scheme also provides an opportunity for more established businesses to apply for increased credit limits to support their businesses with additional sums of between £1,000 and £100,000 of credit available to successful applicants (any increased credit facility granted will be available for a period of 12 months).
The TCEFG scheme allows Grafton to provide credit to businesses at a level outside its present risk profile as the risk is shared by providing government guarantees of 75% of each additional trade credit facility made under the new scheme. TCEFG is open to viable UK businesses that have a turnover of less than £41million.
Mark Kelly, CEO at Grafton Merchanting GB Ltd said: “Growth in construction has to start somewhere and there’s no better place than to start at grassroots level with plenty of support for electricians and all of the people who help make the construction industry prosper. By introducing this scheme we’ll be making it easier for them to secure the credit they are in dire need of.
“Those taking part and approved will have greater access to credit, enabling them to finance business growth. We hope that by stimulating spending among the construction trades we will revive the sector, helping to drive the economy forward.
“There has been some confusion among businesses about the TCEFG offering; what is available to them and how they can get involved. We hope to engage the professional electrician by making the scheme easier to access in an environment that they are familiar with and have trust in.”
Business Minister Michael Fallon said: "No-one knows better than Grafton the acute difficulties faced by electricians and other tradesmen in securing credit. The Government is taking a number of measures to help small businesses with access to finance issues, including by setting up the business bank. The flexibility of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme allows us to support increased trade credit lending and I am very pleased customers of Grafton's will be benefiting."
Grafton will be launching a campaign to help raise awareness and educate tradesmen about the scheme with promotions at local branches and supporting marketing collateral including a handy free guide to TCEFG - Helping to Fund your Business Plan.

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Trade Credit Enterprise Finance Guarantee