A new £30 million technology fund has been unveiled by business secretary Lord Peter Mandelson.
The managers of small businesses keen to expand their operations and raise equity finance have been given access to a total of £30 million in a new technology fund, it has been announced.
Lord Peter Mandelson, the business secretary, has announced the introduction of the fund, which aims to provide assistance to those in the information technology, instrumentation and electronics sectors.
Part of the Enterprise Capital Funds (ECF) scheme run by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR), the project is aimed at firms which would not be able to gain access to funding anywhere else.
Commenting on the launch, Lord Mandelson said: "It is crucial small and medium-sized firms looking to invest in and grow their businesses are able to access the finance they need."
He added ECFs provide an "important" source of capital for small enterprises seeking equity investment, adding this newest fund is demonstrative of the government's commitment to supporting businesses through the current economic climate.
The government has committed up to £60 million for investment in ECFs on an annual basis and states its support provides a foundation for funds to look for further private sector funding.
Meanwhile, a new report from DBERR suggests the business sector is saving an estimated £1.9 billion every year in both time and money.
A total of 240 measures that the government is taking to make regulation simpler for businesses are set out in the paper, which also shows the government is on track to meet the goal of cutting the administrative cost of regulation by a quarter by 2010.
