It’s finally happened: the 20,000th Start Up Loan has been handed out by the Government, and all this funding in the hands of SMEs is good news for contractors.
It seems only yesterday that the furore over banks refusing to take risks in financing new start up businesses held the UK in its icy grip and demanded to be heard. Traditional financial lenders, keen to hoard as much cash as they possibly could in the event of another banking disaster, simply took one look at the unwashed horde of small business owners that wanted funds for their nascent firms and simply brushed them off; the result was an economic recovery that was circling the drain.
Of course that all changed once the Government took over. Essentially telling stingy British banks to jog on, the Government set up the Start Up Loan programme, which was specifically designed to get cash into the hands of those that needed it most: the kind of fledgling entrepreneurs that routinely turn economic fortunes around. Now, with 20,000 of these loans out there in the wild – amounting to sum of more than £100 million in funds pumped into the economy – the results are in, and they’re good news not just for the overall economy but for freelancers and umbrella company contractors.
These small firms have been expanding like mad lately, and as they grow their demand for new talent does as well. What with the skills shortage still limiting the number of permanent employees that can come to the aid of these stalwart SMEs the number of contract workers, freelancers, and other interim workers that have flocked to their banners is truly astounding. Contractors are experiencing a boom like none other at the moment, and the only thing that could possibly end it is that these small firms grow so quickly and so well that their needs outstrip the number of British freelancers. While that sounds like an absurdity, you never know – it could happen – so do yourself a favour and get yourself a slice of that pie while there’s still some left. You won’t be sorry!
