Government support schemes have delivered almost £65.5bn to businesses
Almost £65.5bn has been delivered to businesses through the government’s Covid-19 support schemes.
Figures from the British Business Bank have revealed that over 1.48 million government-guaranteed loans have been deployed to companies impacted by the Covid-19 crisis.
These loans are collectively valued at £65.5bn, which is up from around £61bn as of 18 October.
The bounce back loan scheme (BBLS), which delivers 100 per cent government-backed loans of up to £50,000 to smaller businesses, has been the most popular scheme, having deployed 1.4 million loans worth £42.18bn.
This was followed by the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS) which has delivered 77,909 loans worth £18.46bn and the coronavirus large business interruption loan scheme (CLBILS) which has facilitated £4.84bn through 658 loans.
Meanwhile, £875.8m worth of convertible loans under the future fund have been approved for 874 companies since the fund opened for applications on 20 May.
Over the past month from 18 October to 16 November, nearly £2bn has been delivered through BBLS, £1.3bn through CBILS, £270m through CLBILS and £105m through the future fund.
Read more: Funding Circle sees surge of new borrowers via CBILS
“The UK’s banking and finance industry continues to back businesses across the country to get them through these challenging times,” said Stephen Pegge, managing director of commercial finance at UK Finance.
“Nearly 1.5 million businesses are already supported by a government-backed loan scheme.
“Around 99 per cent of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a business bank account are with a provider that offers bounce back loans, while bank staff continue to work incredibly hard to process applications to meet high levels of demand, while carrying out necessary anti-fraud and money laundering checks on all applications.
“Following the extension of the coronavirus lending schemes, SMEs can now ‘top up’ their bounce back loan to the maximum value of £50,000, or if lower, 25 per cent of the turnover they declared when they first applied.
“Businesses are encouraged to contact their lender if they wish to access these additional funds from their existing loan.
“It is important to remember that any lending provided under government-backed schemes is a debt not a grant, and so firms should carefully consider their ability to repay before applying.”
Read more: Assetz Capital sifting through £300m CBILS pipeline
The British Business Bank has also published data on the diversity of companies accessing the future fund.
40 per cent – or £352.8m – of the funding approved for companies was for businesses with their headquarters located outside of London.
Out of the total amount of funding, 16 per cent has been to companies headquartered in the South East and South West and 11 per cent in the North West, North East and Yorkshire and the Humber.
In addition, eight per cent has gone to businesses in the East of England, three per cent in the Midlands and three per cent in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The majority (80 per cent) of funding has gone to companies with mixed gender senior management teams.
Black, Asian and minority ethnic only and mixed ethnicity management teams account for 64 per cent of funding to companies that have been approved for convertible loan agreements so far, worth £516.6m.