Retail Trade: Market Towns
(asked on 10th October 2025) - View Source
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of financial support for small high street businesses in (a) Stafford and (b) other market towns.
Answered by
Blair McDougall
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Our Plan for Small Businesses sets out how government will work across departments to help SMEs, including those on the high street, to start and thrive.
High street businesses will benefit from legislation to end the scourge of late payments costing the UK economy £11bn annually. With a £4bn finance boost, we are increasing access to finance for entrepreneurs and business owners through the Government-backed British Business Bank.
Businesses in Stafford can access both one-on-one support from the Stoke-on-Trent Staffordshire Growth Hub and our new Business Growth Service. For example, between 2012 and 30 June 2025, 142 Start Up Loans worth £1.56m were issued to entrepreneurs in Stafford.