The changes will help businesses grow, invest and create jobs across the country, and come ahead of the Chancellor’s Mansion House speech on Tuesday. It delivers on the government’s commitment to make the UK the best place to start and grow a business – ensuring that hard work and ambition are met with the finance to match.
The gap between the SME demand for finance and the amount available is estimated to be between £1.6 billion to £4.1 billion per year. Improving this access is key to unlocking greater business investment, growth and productivity across the UK, News Cover reports, citing the UK government's official website.
The centrepiece of plans revealed today is an expansion of the British Business Bank’s (BBB) highly successful Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS) which provides a 70% government guarantee on commercial loans to SMEs of up to £2 million, cutting credit risk and turning ‘nos’ into ‘yeses’.
Since its launch in 2022, the scheme has delivered over £3.7 billion of financing to UK SMEs with £2.5 billion of this reaching businesses outside of London and the Southeast.
Every £1 spent on the scheme is estimated to support around £10 of lending by banks.
