The British Business Bank has launched a new scheme to help smaller businesses access the finance they need to invest and grow.

The Growth Guarantee Scheme will act as a successor to the Recovery Loan Scheme.

Forty-one lenders have so far been accredited by the British Business Bank for the scheme, which is expected to support around 11,000 smaller businesses between July 2024 and March 2026.

Following their accreditation, each lender needs to put in place the operations required to start lending under the scheme, and they will be listed on the British Business Bank website once they are ready to start receiving applications. So far, 20 lenders have confirmed they are open for applications, with more to be accredited over the coming weeks.

These lenders will provide a wide range of finance types to smaller businesses, including term loans, overdrafts, asset finance, invoice finance and asset-based lending.

Managing director, guarantee and wholesale solutions at the British Business Bank, Reinald de Monchy, said: “We’re excited to launch the Growth Guarantee Scheme, which will allow lenders to offer more finance to their customers.

“This will help to generate more sustainable growth across the UK and provide a springboard to many smaller businesses to scale up or stay ahead.”

The British Business Bank, the Government’s economic development bank, aims to improve access to finance for smaller businesses and supports over £12.4bn of finance to more than 90,000 smaller businesses.

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