Coronavirus: Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme – for small businesses
Scheme to support small and medium-sized businesses to access bank lending and overdrafts
A new temporary Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, delivered by the British Business Bank, aims to support primarily small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to access bank lending and overdrafts.
The government will provide lenders with a guarantee of 80 per cent on each loan (subject to a per-lender cap on claims) to give lenders further confidence in continuing to provide finance to SMEs. The government will not charge businesses or banks for this guarantee, and the Scheme will support loans of up to £5 million in value.
Businesses can access the first 12 months of that finance interest- free, as the government will cover the first 12 months of interest payments.
There will be no limit on the number and aggregate value of loans that can be made under the scheme.
Eligibility
You are eligible for the scheme if:
- your business is UK based, with a turnover of no more than £45 million per year
- your business meets the other British Business Bank eligibility criteria
How to access the scheme
The full rules of the Scheme and the list of accredited lenders is available on the British Business Bank website. All the major banks will offer the Scheme once it has launched. There are 40 accredited providers in all and 22 participating lenders in Northern Ireland
You should talk to your bank or finance provider (not the British Business Bank) as soon as possible and discuss your business plan with them. This will help your finance provider to act quickly once the Scheme has launched. If you have an existing loan with monthly repayments you may want to ask for a repayment holiday to help with cash flow.
The scheme is available from Monday 23 March.
For further information, download the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme FAQs for SMEs (PDF, 224K).
