Hundred million pound franchise fund launched between RBS and Natwest
The Royal Bank of Scotland and Natwest have announced creation of an exclusively new £100m franchise fund that could potentially finance anything up to 1,800 franchise businesses.
The fund, which has 1% arrangement fees, could also mean that 24,000 new jobs are created, according the bank itself, based on the likely event that each franchise employs around 13 staff members.
Additional incentives for franchises-in-the-making include 12-month holidays from capital repayment, as well as the usually standard two years’ worth of free banking.
Speaking on revelation of the news, Peter Ibbetson, the current chairman of small businesses at both NatWest and the Royal Bank of Scotland, explained that everybody wishes to see banks funding UK business growth, in addition to helping new businesses get off the ground and get the ball rolling by creating jobs – the exact things that the fund will deliver.
He continued by explaining that the industry has shown that it is virtually recession-proof, meaning that the many people that were left out of work as a result of the recession can get back to full strength by using franchising to set up a business. In addition to this, there is also the support of a famous and nationally recognised-brand behind them as opposed to trying something completely new and a lot riskier.
All in all, the franchise industry seems to be in great shape with its turnover rising to a strong £11.8bn in 2009, which was an increase of at least £400m when measured against 2008.