Today the British Business Bank has announced that it has approved Allied Irish Bank, Investec Bank plc, and Mercedes-Benz Financial Services UK Limited have been accredited under the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS). These three new CLBILS lenders will be able to provide finance to larger UK businesses with a turnover of more than £45 million. CLBILS is just one of the programs HM Government has provided to backstop the COVID impacted economy.
According to government numbers, over 1.2 million businesses have now received lending support via the COVID schemes. Delivered by the British Business Bank, these loans and guarantees are said to be worth approximately £50.69 billion. Alongside traditional lenders, Fintechs are providing support to impacted businesses.
Overall, each different program has provided the following support:
- CBILS (Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme) – £13.08 billion – 58,595 approved loans
- CLBILS – £3.27 billion – 482 approved loans
- BBLS (Bounce Back Loans) – £34.34 billion – 1,235,575 approved loans
The Future Fund, a scheme that supports early-stage ventures that frequently are not generating any net income, has grown as well.
According to HM Treasury, 537 convertible loans have been approved for a total of £534 million.
The Future Fund convertibles are expected to convert into equity which will make the UK government a shareholder in funded firms. Both Seedrs and Crowdcube are listing issuers that have applied for the program.
