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New ethnic minority business task force launched by DTI
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A NEW ethnic minority business task force will help foster growth among black and minority ethnic
(BME) firms and boost economic participation by BME entrepreneurs, Small Business Minister, Margaret Hodge, announced recently.
One of its tasks will be to investigate why ethnic minority businesses face additional barriers in access to finance, as highlighted by a recent survey commissioned by the Department for Trade & Industry.
The survey found that many of the discrepancies can be explained by standard business risk factors and financial relationships (for example, the age of businesses and how much collateral businesses can offer against a loan, as well their financial track records). |
However, it concludes that these do not fully explain the differences, particularly with regard to the margins paid on loans, and gaps in financing.
The Minister asked “Why is it harder and costlier for some ethnic minority firms to get a loan than others? I have asked the Task Force to investigate this and come back with recommendations on ways to address this issue.
“Over the next two years the new Task Force will propose ways to encourage more ethnic minority participation in enterprise. It will also reach out to potential entrepreneurs in under-represented BME groups, including ethnic minority women, looking to help remove the barriers to doing business which face them.”
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