Six more lenders approved to help firms hit by virus
THE British Business Bank has approved six new lenders to its Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).
New lenders Bibby Financial Services, Iwoca, Scania Financial Services, Triodos Bank UK, Ulster Community Investment Trust (UCIT), and Woodsford TradeBridge will be able to provide financial support to smaller businesses across the UK that are losing revenue and seeing their cashflow disrupted as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Following their approval they will each shortly announce when they will start to accept funding applications.
Under CBILS, which is administered by the UK Government’s economic development bank, lenders can provide low interest bearing loans, which is waived in the first year, of up to £5m for firms whose annual revenues don’t exceed £45m.
The British Business Bank also administers the Bounce Bank Loan (BBL) scheme, which provides funding of up to £50,000 to small firms, as well as the Coronavarius Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) for larger firms. Funding for that was increased earlier this week from a ceiling £50m to £200m.
To date all three funds have seen accredited lenders approving £22bn in loans to more than 500,000 firms across the UK.
This consists of £14.18bn through BBL and £7.25bn through CBILS. There aren’t breakdown figures for the nations and regions of the UK.
Since launching, the number of accredited lenders under CBILS has increased from 41 to 74.
Chief executive of the British Business Bank, Keith Morgan, said: “Our accredited lenders have seen an incredible demand for Covid-19 business loan schemes since they became available. Accrediting these six additional finance providers means further support for smaller business customers and continues the British Business Bank’s longterm objective to offer more diverse sources of finance to smaller businesses.”
The Development Bank of Wales has yet to hear on its bid to be an accredited CBILS lender, despite submitting an expression of interest to the British Business Bank back in March.
Meanwhile, applications for the UK Government’s £500m Future Fund also went live yesterday.
UK-based companies can now apply for a convertible loan of between £125,000 and £5m to support continued growth and innovation in sectors as diverse as technology, life sciences and the creative industries.
However, it only applies to firms that have raised £250,000 from third parties over the past five years. In Wales there are only around 60 firms that have raised such an amount.
To get backing from the fund, it also requires firms to secured private sector match-funding.