Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what work the British Business Bank is doing in Northern Ireland to promote its services to small businesses located there.

British Business Bank programmes facilitated £7.5m of new lending and investment to smaller businesses in Northern Ireland in 2013/14.

The Business Bank's Enterprise Finance Guarantee programme supported £5.1 million of additional lending to Northern Irish businesses during 2013/14, bringing the total amount of lending through the programme in Northern Ireland to £36.1 million.

The Bank's Start Up Loans programme was extended to Northern Ireland in June 2013 and since then, it has provided 120 loans to Northern Irish start-ups, lending a total of over £560,000.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Northern Ireland Executive recently hosted a roadshow in Northern Ireland to promote the delivery of Business Bank programmes through Northern Irish finance providers and the Business Bank is actively discussing with the Executive how it can continue to support Northern Irish businesses in the future.