Businesses apply for start-up cash as credit crunch continues

NORTH Staffordshire entrepreneurs have been applying for low-cost loans from the Michelin Development Fund as the shortage of mainstream credit continues.

Last July fund administrators issued a rallying cry to businesses in Staffordshire after no loans at all were approved in the first seven months of 2008.

They urged firms to come forward over the following 12 months to bid for part of a £1 million cash pot aimed at creating 250 jobs.

Almost a year on, Michelin Development managers are preparing to reveal how many firms have been helped.

Read the full story at www.thisisbusiness-staffordshire.co.uk