A businesswoman says she is at the end of her tether trying to get help to keep her company afloat.

Adrian and Fiona Barber run Tonbridge-based Wood Works of Westerham.

She says rules around accessing government-backed loans are too inflexible and the process needs reviewing.

She said: "They have been amazing at shouting about what's on offer, but I can honestly say it would be easier to qualify as a brain surgeon than get anywhere with the schemes."

Founded in 2000, their company currently employs nine people and specialises in upmarket handmade furniture and hand-crafted kitchens, bedroom and bathrooms.

Last month, anticipating what was coming, Fiona applied for a private loan for between £80,000 and £100,000 from the Funding Circle, an organisation which sees the public lend cash to small and medium-sized enterprises.

She estimated this sum would allow them to keep staff paid and overheads under control during the course of the lockdown.

All was going well and they expected to receive the funds until the last stage when an underwriter informed them the lender was now operating under rules set out in the government's coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS) and they did not qualify.

Fiona explained this was because the company's accounts showed a small loss in the past couple of years.

But this was a "technical loss" as they have invested massively and doubled the size of the business, meaning its order book has never looked better.

She added: "This year, we've seen a real upturn in business, our investment has paid off and things were really on the up.

"It's so frustrating, they're not applying common sense; it's as if the computer says 'no' and that's it, you can't reason with them."

They have now applied to Tonbridge and Malling council for a £25,000 business rates grant, which they qualify for under the retail category.

But it has been a painfully slow process with the council suffering staff losses and a fire which put claims back.

Now, 14 days after they applied, they still haven't received the cash, although Fiona has sympathy with the hard-pressed staff there.

She has also tried to take a loan from her bank Lloyds, but has again faced problems because of the CBILS rules.

The irony of the situation is when the firm closed ahead of lockdown, they had several jobs ongoing.

"If we opened up tomorrow, I would be in a position to invoice £100,000 of business," she added.

The couple have used savings and borrowed from their parents but genuinely fear seeing all their hard work disappear.

They have now set up a fundraising page to help them pay staff.

Fiona isn't the only business person to tell of their problems.

KentOnline has been contacted by a number of company bosses worried about the future.

Getting access to government-backed loans through banks is a major source of frustration as they face uncertainty over when they will be allowed to start trading again.

Jo James, chief executive of Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce, says there are two main complaints coming from her members.

The first was the difficulty in actually speaking to somebody from a bank because of the volumes of calls they were receiving.

And secondly, firms are being turned down for loans because of the banks' perception of their future viability rather than how the businesses were performing in real terms.

The chamber has more than 1,200 members and is liaising with MPs across the county who are speaking to the treasury.

Figures released by UK Finance show so far, banks and financial institutions have lent more than £1.1bn to small and medium-sized companies under the government's coronavirus loan scheme.

This equates to more than 6,000 loans with an average value of about £185,000.

But it represents a fraction of the 300,000 inquiries made through the scheme so far.

A prominent Kent businessman, who asked to remain anonymous, said he felt a debate was needed about how the banks are handling the situation and how flexible they were being in this time of national crisis.

Aside from issues with the slowness of the government loan scheme, he told how his company had tried to remortgage a building it owned outright but the bank wouldn't send out anybody to value it.

He further questioned whether supermarkets should be getting business rates relief as smaller traders are.

"It's so frustrating, they're not applying common sense; it's as if the computer says 'no' and that's it, you can't reason with them"

Last week, it was revealed Tesco had received a £585 million windfall at a time sales are up 30% due to stockpiling.

Is your businesses experiencing problems? Tell your story by emailing mramsden@thekmgroup.co.uk

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