ART Business Loans is celebrating achieving further growth in lending to SMEs across the West Midlands and adjoining counties.
Over the 2025/26 financial year, ART Business Loans saw lending grow by 20 per cent year-on-year, supporting businesses to create and protect jobs, invest in their teams and contribute positively to their local communities.
Birmingham-based ART Business Loans is reporting an even stronger start to the 2026/27 financial year following the allocation of £7million under the British Business Bank’s Community ENABLE Fund to provide loans above £25,000 to underserved, smaller businesses across the West Midlands.
Access to the new finance increases the range of funds available through ART Business Loans, which lends to companies wanting to borrow between £10,000 and £250,000.
ART Business Loans chief executive Steve Walker said: “This has been a strong year for ART and, more importantly, for the businesses we have been able to support.
“More than 75 per cent of the businesses we support come from underserved areas and communities, and we are proud that our lending is making a tangible difference to people’s lives and livelihoods.
“Demand has been especially high for larger deals in sectors where growth potential is significant, with some funding deals agreed in partnership with other sources of finance. The signs for 2026/27 are looking very promising, and we are excited about the opportunities ahead.”
One of the firms to have benefitted from ART funding is Wolverhampton roadside assistance and vehicle recovery company, Rockhopper Recovery & Rescue.
The company contacted ART Business Loans to provide funding to purchase additional vehicles and recruit two new team members to handle increased demand during the busy summer period.
To support the company’s growth, the business employed a commercial technician and specialist vehicle to allow Rockhopper to provide roadside assistance to vehicles over 7.5 tonnes, as well as maintaining the company’s own fleet of vehicles, saving thousands of pounds in external servicing and maintenance costs.
Rockhopper Rescue & Recovery director Adam Court said: “The funding allowed us to purchase new vehicles outright with no further need for expensive vehicle finance. It also meant we could secure the employment of our current team as well as employ two additional team members, which we have since done.”
Since its establishment in 1997 as Aston Reinvestment Trust, ART Business Loans has lent more than £40 million to more than 1,800 customers, enabling them to create or protect more than 8,500 jobs. The organisation lends between £10,000 and £250,000 to businesses across the Midlands and adjoining counties, supporting those that can demonstrate a viable proposition but have been unable to secure the full finance they need from mainstream lenders.
June 1, 2026 12:45 pm