London discusses CBILS details
The Economic Team at the High Commission of India in London is ready to assist businesses across the United Kingdom, High Commissioner Ruchi Ghanashyam has assured.
“We are finding new ways of working and organising efforts with businesses with new technologies and the Economic team of the High Commission stands ready to assist businesses from across the UK,” the envoy told a webinar on ‘Navigating COVID19: Accessing Finance through CBILS for your business’.
“The pandemic presents and undoubtedly very challenging period in our lives, though we must try and navigate these challenges safely,” said Ghanashyam.
The High Commission, in partnership with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and India Professional Forum (IPF), organized the webinar on 1 May 2020 for the Indian Diaspora Small Businesses, Startups, Professionals in the UK as well as UK businesses in the UK India business corridor.
The session discussed issues and challenges with regards to Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan (CBIL) scheme for small businesses.
The session also explored non-banking options for obtaining funding under the CBIL scheme.
Over 60 Indian business representatives across sectors like financial services, healthcare, IT & IT services, trading, and business services participated in the webinar.
“Restarting the economy has to be done very carefully to avoid another lockdown,” advised Lord Karan Bilimoria. “It’s not a fight between health and wealth. Impatience cannot be confused with recklessness.”
“We are starting to look ahead to see how to come out the crisis, and at the CBI we refer to the three phases of restart, revival and renewal. We need a sustainable restart based on clear scientific evidence,” Lord Karan stressed.
The webinar was followed by a panel discussion on Accessing Finance through CBILS for Small & Medium Businesses.
Moderating the panel, the India Professional Forum Dr Mohan Kaul, President Dr Mohan Kaul added, “This webinar is a part of a number of joint initiatives to assist Indian diaspora businesses to continue to succeed and play an important role in strengthening the UK economy.”
The Panel Members included, Sharad Chandak, Regional Director, SBI & CEO, SBI UK; Katrin Herrling, CEO & Co-founder, Funding Exchange; Ben Davey, CEO, Barclays Ventures; Deepesh Thakrar, Senior Director, Debt Finance, OakNorth.
The panel discussed about the CBILS in detail and responded to queries and questions of the participants at length.
Barclays Ventures CEO Ben Davey said, “SMEs are the heart of our economy, the government has recognised that through the range of support schemes now available and the banking industry has an important role to play in supporting SMEs in accessing those funds.”
OakNorth Group CEO Rishi Khosla shared, “This crisis may be as bad or even worse than 2008. There will be many businesses that were strong, profitable, healthy businesses before the pandemic which will now be struggling to survive. We are trying to find ways to support these businesses and help them through this extremely difficult time.
“We want to look back on this and know that as a society, we came together to support one another, to help the vulnerable, and to protect SMEs. If we get that right, it will be a great learning for generations to come.” fiinews.com
