The British Business Bank has accredited Creative Growth Finance (CGF) as a delivery partner under its Growth Guarantee Scheme.

CGF is Creative UK’s specialist £35m debt fund which provides growth capital to high-potential smaller businesses in the UK’s creative sector.

The British Business Bank said its Growth Guarantee Scheme would enhance CGF’s ability to support creative businesses, allowing them to offer more flexible financing solutions, and provide more smaller businesses in the creative industries with access to funding.

CGF supports smaller businesses across different creative sectors – including gaming, film and television, marketing, design – with loans ranging from £100,000 up to £1m. The CGF fund was created in 2019 to address the funding challenges faced by creative businesses.

Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said: “This accreditation from the British Business Bank will unlock millions of pounds in financing for the sector – a sector we have prioritised as a key growth driver in our industrial strategy as part of our plan for change – helping it continue to go from strength to strength, breaking down the barriers to expansion some creative industries face, and supporting them to find the funding they need to scale and grow.”

The British Business Bank’s support to UK creative businesses was worth around £850m in the calendar year 2023. This represented around 11% of the total UK flow across the bank’s core programmes.

Co-chief banking officer, products at the British Business Bank, Reinald de Monchy, said that the accreditation “demonstrates a further commitment” to the UK’s creative sector.

“The creative industries are not only a major contributor to the UK economy but also provide tremendous cultural value at home and abroad,” de Monchy added.

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