The British Business Bank has issued a statement committing to providing £2.3 for smaller UK businesses—a record amount. At the same time, the group has posted an “unrealized loss” as valuations in long-term investments have declined. The loss for 2023/2024 stands at £122 million. The Bank expects valuations to rise over time.
Louis Taylor, CEO of British Business Bank, said the Bank has performed above expectations in the last year in spite of challenging market conditions.
“The impact of the activities we carried out in 2023 is expected to be the creation of 39,400 additional jobs and £8.4bn of gross value added (GVA) over the life of the finance.”
The Bank provided the following data on its operations:
- Ensuring smaller businesses can access finance they need to start, survive and grow – £777m of debt commitments, versus a target of £713m
- Ensuring innovative businesses can access capital to start and scale – £1,527m of equity commitments versus a target of £1,331m
- Supporting growth by ensuring entrepreneurs can access the finance they need regardless of where and who they are – £1,782m of gross deployment outside of London versus a target of £1,080m
- Financing solutions to climate change and helping smaller businesses transition to net zero. The Bank published its first Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and undertook first submissions under both the Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI) and the UN Global Compact (UNGC) within the 2023/24 financial year, meeting its target of delivering required sustainability reporting.
In calendar year 2023, the Bank enabled a total of £6 billion of finance into smaller businesses including £3.5 billion of public funding with an additional £2.5 billion of private capital leveraged alongside.
