In March, the rhinos, gorillas and other exotic animals at the Aspinall Foundation’s wildlife parks were looking forward to thousands of people visiting them during the Easter holidays and summer months. Instead, Covid-19 forced the parks to close, leaving the owners with more than 1,300 animals to feed and care for, but no income with which to do so.
Fortunately, the Aspinall Foundation was able to turn to their Relationship Director at Barclays, who understood their business and approved a £2 million loan through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) to help them through this very difficult period.
Hundreds of thousands of UK businesses found themselves in similar situations, and Barclays moved quickly to back our customers. Within six months of the launch of the government’s business support schemes, Barclays had provided companies across the UK with more than £23 billion of finance.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in