Cardiff-based fintech firm wins CBILS accreditation

CARDIFF-BASED recruitment finance and technology provider Sonovate has been accredited to a flagship UK Government loan scheme for SMEs hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic.

It has been accredited by the British Business Bank under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)

The scheme enables lenders, that now total more than 70, to provide low-interest loans of up to £5m to smaller UK firms experiencing cashflow disruptions from lost or deferred revenues.

Sonovate will provide additional funding to UK recruitment and consultancy businesses suffering from cashflow shortages as a result of Covid-19.

Richard Prime, co-CEO of Sonovate, said: “We have always supported Britain’s start-up and SME community by providing access to the cashflow required to grow and this has never been more important than it is today.

“The CBILS accreditation will enable us to use our technology and industry expertise to help even more businesses during what is an incredibly challenging time.

“We fully support the British Business Bank’s objective of getting cashflow to the businesses that need it the most and we have set some ambitious targets to release millions in working capital, quickly and efficiently, to recruitment businesses and consultancies in order to support them through this crisis.”

Sonovate is the first dedicated funder to the recruitment and consultancy industry to be approved for CBILS accreditation.

Earlier this week it was announced that the British Business Bank – the UK Government’s economic development bank – had rejected a bid by the Development Bank of Wales, which is wholly-owned by the Welsh Government, to becoming an accredited CBILS lender.

It said Treasury guidelines meant bidders must have at least 30% of funding from non-government sources. Apart from £10m it manages on behalf of the Clwyd Pension Fund, the Development Bank’s other funding is provided by the Welsh Government and EU.

Sonnovate joins Robert Owen Community Banking, based in Newtown, as the second CBILS provider headquartered in Wales.

To date the accredited lenders under CBILS, which include all the main high-street banks and challenger banks like Metro and Starling, have approved lending of £10.1bn to 49,000 firms across the UK.