£15bn loans approved to 304,000 firms in UK
LOANS to more than 304,000 firms across the UK totalling close to £15bn have been approved under the UK Government’s three coronavarius loan schemes.
Administered by the UK Government’s economic development bank, the British Business Banks, with funding provided by more than 60 accredited lenders, including the high street banks, the schemes are:
■ The Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) targeted at sole traders and small firms;
■ The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) for SMEs and
■ The Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) for larger businesses.
Some £8.37bn has been approved to 268,173 businesses through the BBL scheme in the week since it launched with loans of up to £50,000.
This is an average of over 38,000 loans being approved each day.
Lenders have provided £6.09bn to 35,919 businesses so far through the CBILS, which provides funding up to £5m for firms with annual revenues not exceeding £45m.
Figures for the CLBIL scheme show lenders approved £359m to 59 mid-sized and larger UK businesses.
The number of applications is lower than for CBILS and BBLS but the average value of each loan is higher at over £6m. It provides finance of up to £50m.
There is a time lag between approvals and firms drawing down finance. There are no breakdown figures for the UK nations and English regions.
The Development Bank of Wales, funded by the Welsh Government, in March launched its £100m Covid-19 emergency loan scheme.
It provides funding up to £250,000 to firms trading for at least two years. It carries an interest rate of 2% with a holiday for the first year, rescheduled into the remaining five years of the six-year terms.
The fund was quickly oversubscribed with 1,500 applications. Latest figures show that £60m of funding has now been drawn down by 1,000 firms.
Firms have until June to decide whether to draw down or not.
Stephen Jones, chief executive of UK Finance, the representative body for the financial services sector, said: “The banking and finance industry is determined to play its part in helping businesses of all sizes get through these tough times.
“Bank staff are working tirelessly to get financing quickly to those firms who need it, with almost £15bn of lending provided to over 304,000 businesses through governmentbacked schemes so far.
“This forms part of the industry’s broad package of support for businesses including commercial lending, capital repayment holidays, extended overdrafts and asset-based finance.
“It’s important to remember that any lending provided under government-backed schemes is a debt not a grant, and so firms should carefully consider their ability to repay before applying.”