Limited company contractors across a range of industries could be set to benefit from a £60 million funding boost.
The Community Development Finance Association will receive £30 million from the government's Regional Growth Fund, which has been matched with a further £30 million from banks to provide lending to small, micro and social enterprises.
It is hoped the funding will create or safeguard over 8,000 jobs over six years across the country and meet some of the growing demand from small businesses for access to finance.
Business secretary Vince Cable believes "effective channels to support small businesses" such as this are hugely important to rebalancing the economy.
He argues that providing access to finance will kick start the economy, create jobs and unlock private investment.