Small and medium-sized businesses can apply for interest-free loans from a new £5 million pot of funding aimed at easing investment uncertainty since the EU referendum.

The cash, available over the next five years, will be lent by Kent County Council and is the latest in a series of similar schemes run by the local authority, which has lent more than £45 million to over 215 firms since 2012.

Bosses have hailed the move as a “confidence boost” for firms following the uncertainty created by the Brexit vote.

The lending programme, dubbed the Innovation Investment Loan, will open on Monday, August 1, but companies will not have long to apply for the first round, when £1.36 million will be available.

The deadline for applications is five weeks later on Friday, September 2.

“This is going to help secure the next stage for any ambitious company with a solid plan for growth..." - Jane Ollis, Institute of Directors

The fund was launched at an event run by the Institute of Directors at Ashford International Hotel on Thursday, July 21.

IoD Kent chairman Jane Ollis said: “This is going to help secure the next stage for any ambitious company with a solid plan for growth.

“This new fund comes at a particularly edgy time for Kent businesses when the level of uncertainty around the future is high. This shows Kent is open for business and that we should be dealing with investment decisions.”

KCC leader Paul Carter said the fund, which aims to encourage lending from the private sector, is “a great opportunity for businesses with the appetite for investment and growth”.

He said: “Small and medium sized high-growth businesses are the lifeblood of our local economy and are key to continued economic recovery.

“But a lack of access to finance is often a problem stifling their growth. Many of these businesses will now have access to interest-free loans, helping them to reach their full potential.”

The money has been given the KCC by the South East Local Enterprise Partnership, a body set up by the Government to encourage economic growth in the area.

It is not part of the cash lent by the council from the Government’s £3.2 billion Regional Growth Fund.

KCC’s economic development chief Cllr Mark Dance said: “There is a superb opportunity here for strong companies to expand, to take that next step towards bigger things, and to create the jobs they need to succeed.”

Companies can express an interest by emailing InnovationLoan@kent.gov.uk