Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

Carmarthenshire’s Executive Board has agreed new terms on its financial agreement with Scarlets Regional Ltd, resulting in increased income for the county council. Under the amended terms, the club will pay interest on the council’s £2.616million loan at 3.5 per cent above the bank’s base rate, a deal that the Executive Board considered a better return than any other commercial investment. It means that the council will now receive £8,000 more in interest from the club per year – a figure which amounts to some £104,000 annually. In addition, the income thresholds at which the club is required to pay rent on the Parc Y Scarlets stadium have been dropped from £2.2million to £1.5million, and £2.8million to £2million, bringing forward the potential for the council to generate rental income for the facility. Cllr Jeff Edmunds, Executive Board Member for Resources, said: “This is a sound commercial decision – an interest rate of 3.5 per cent above the base rate makes commercial sense in the ...

New business loans are being offered to Carmarthenshire companies hit hard by the recession. The county council is behind a new package of support aimed at helping rate-paying businesses to create and safeguard jobs. Short term loans are being launched to help rate-paying businesses with capital expenditure costs. Money will be available for purchasing assets and improvements to properties. The aim is to help firms develop their business and improve productivity. New and existing businesses will benefit and young entrepreneurs will be targeted to help them realise their dreams. The measures have been put together by the Business Service team at the council and have been approved by the authority’s Executive Board. Business Services Manager Simon Richards said: “The economic climate has affected local firms and this new loan will support capital expenditure to all rate paying businesses, both start-up and existing. “The support will help them to start, expand or improve their business a...