£4 Billion Emergency Covid-19 Battle Funding Needed For 20,000 Desperate UK Businesses
Over £4 billion in funding pleas have already been made by desperate UK businesses in the battle for survival against the Coronavirus pandemic, according to new figures.
London is worst hit with average requests with almost three quarters of a billion pounds (£731.7m) from 3,862 struggling companies, data compiled by business funding service FundingOptions.com showed.
The data compared funding applications, received through lenders partnered with the company, across 98 areas of the UK by factors such as number of businesses applying, average amounts requested and their industry.
As the Centre for London Think Tank estimates 28% of Londoners are struggling to make ends meet, the capital saw the biggest wave of applications with:
- Four times more funding being requested in total (£731.7m) than that of Essex (£184.6m) and Nottinghamshire (£167m)
- Almost 3.5 times more businesses (3,862) affected than next area Lancashire (1,135)
- The 9th highest average requested amount from firms of £189,480
However, outside the south-east, the figures bloat even more, particularly in devolved Scotland and Wales, which are making on average larger funding applications.
Dyfed, in south-west Wales, has requested a whopping £876,250 on average across 59 businesses claiming, topping the 98 areas measured.
Meanwhile, four of the highest claiming areas in the top 10 are in Scotland. Roxburghshire (£370,714), Lanarkshire (£364,685), and East Lothian (£353,125) all come in positions 3 to 5 respectively, while Banffshire is in 7th position with average claims of £239,500.
The full top ten is:
- Dyfed – £876,250
- Nottinghamshire – £780,769
- Roxburghshire – £370,714
- Lanarkshire – £364,685
- East Lothian – £353,125
- County Down – £329,524
- Banffshire – £239,500
- Isle of Wight – £208,646
- London – £189,480
- Essex – £188,930
