The British Business Bank’s Growth Guarantee Scheme has supported over £250m in finance for smaller businesses (SMEs) in just four months since its launch in July 2024.
This scheme, which followed the Recovery Loan Scheme, aims to enhance access to finance for small businesses looking to expand.
The initiative works with various lenders and financial products, including term loans, overdrafts, asset finance, invoice finance, and asset-based lending.
Approximately two-thirds of the lending went to businesses outside London and the South East, with 96% of the funds directed to firms employing fewer than 50 people.
The wholesale and retail sector was the largest recipient, receiving 17% of the total lending, followed by manufacturing at 15%.
Construction and professional and scientific sectors received 12% and 9% respectively.
A quarter of the total lending was provided through asset finance, reflecting its growing popularity in the market.
Reinald de Monchy, co-chief banking officer, products, British Business Bank, said: “This is a fantastic achievement for the Growth Guarantee Scheme in such a short amount of time.
“Since its launch, we wanted to maintain the momentum we generated with the previous scheme and offer a diverse range of finance types across the UK.
“We hope to continue this into 2025 and support more smaller businesses as the scheme accredits more delivery partners.”
Simon Goldie, director of business finance and advocacy at the Finance & Leasing Association, said: “FLA members are deploying the Growth Guarantee Scheme to fund small and micro businesses across the UK.
“It’s a great achievement to have over £250m now powering more investment, productivity and value throughout the economy, and shows the importance of the risk-sharing model to both funders and their customers.”
Martin McTague, national chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “FSB campaigned hard to secure the Growth Guarantee Scheme as a crucial successor to the Recovery Loan Scheme, and we are delighted to see it has delivered £250m of funding to small businesses since its launch.
“We’re excited to see what the future holds and look forward to many more small businesses being enabled to scale up by the scheme, helping to fuel economic growth and recovery across the UK.”
