THE Royal Bank of Scotland has announced that it will be offering capital support to small businesses amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The spread of the virus has resulted in direct impacts on businesses throughout the world, but the bank has pledged to include a £350 million Working Capital Support extension in its successful Growth Funding Package, as well as offering support and practical advice to SMEs.

Malcolm Buchanan, chair of the Royal Bank of Scotland Board said: “The impacts our customers may experience will vary from sector to sector, but we want to be proactive in the way we support them and to use our size and scale, combined with our detailed customer and sectoral knowledge to ensure Scottish SMEs are supported through the impact of the coronavirus.

“We are here, we want to help, there is support available and we need to get it to those who need it.”

Alison Rose, CEO Royal Bank of Scotland, commented: “The ongoing uncertainty that the UK’s small and medium sized businesses are experiencing is unprecedented even by recent standards.

“While many of our customers are yet to feel the direct impacts of coronavirus, I want Royal Bank of Scotland to have the right support in place, so we are there to help our SME customers when they need us most.

“SMEs should not feel like they have to go through these uncertain times alone.”