The British Business Bank says its Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) has supported £1 billion of finance offers to smaller businesses since its launch in August 2022.
Launched in 2014, the British Business Bank is the UK government’s economic development bank. The Recovery Loan Scheme is a government-backed loan scheme designed to support access to finance for UK businesses. Currently, there are over 60 lending partners providing a point of access across the UK for the program. This is the third iteration of the program.
The RLS offers term loans as well as invoice financing and other vehicles. Of the businesses supported, more than 90% had fewer than 50 employees. The first two phases of t RLS were designed to support access to finance for UK businesses as they recovered from the Covid-19 crisis.
Louis Taylor, Chief Executive of the British Business Bank, called the billion-pound mark a “fantastic achievement, pointing to the diversity of lenders that are participating in the scheme.
“Helping start-ups get off the ground, and grow into scale-ups, is key in both the here-and-now and for the UK’s future prospects, especially in our current high interest rate environment. Having the scheme set up and ready to go will be invaluable in case of an economic slowdown, to ensure funding gets to firms as swiftly as possible,” said Martin McTague, National Chair of the Federation of Small Businesses.
