HSBC reports an increasing demand for the Jersey Government Business Disruption Loan Guarantee Scheme from small businesses, a month since it was introduced in Jersey, as the Bank continues to provide other support for local businesses during the Covid-19 period.
One such example of an HSBC business customer benefitting from the Loan Guarantee Scheme is a Jersey dentist, Robert Howell from YourSmileJersey, who is using the funds to manage his business through the lockdown and also prepare to reopen in a safe way.
Robert Howell from YourSmileJersey commented: “It’s been a pleasure to work with Kris Moors and the HSBC team to secure a loan facility. This is providing the means for the clinic to negotiate this period of zero income and also to viral proof the clinic with negative pressure treatment rooms and viral inactivating internal air management systems. These systems and some further modifications to the patient experience will combine to make the clinic, from entry to exit, as safe as possible.”
The Bank has been supporting island businesses in other ways too. It has provided significant lending on normal commercial terms to businesses of all sizes to support them during the pandemic, in addition to the Loan Guarantee Scheme. It has run webinars on Covid-19 disruption and the economic outlook for its larger and international business clients, and is launching a series of fraud awareness and prevention guides for businesses to help them be alert to fraudsters who are using the pandemic as a new opportunity to trick businesses.
Commenting on the support the Bank is offering, Warwick Long, Head of Commercial Banking at HSBC Channel Islands and Isle of Man said:
“We’re delighted to help businesses in Jersey get through this difficult period, and it’s really encouraging that some are already planning for the future beyond Covid-19. HSBC is currently helping many island businesses in a number of ways, including the Loan Guarantee Scheme. It’s important that the business community pulls together to do whatever we can to get through this period.”
