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British Business Bank ENABLE Guarantee opens to new types of lenders

Press release 16 May 2019

  • Asset finance and asset-based lending providers, as well as certain other categories of lender, are now eligible to apply for the ENABLE Guarantee programme
  • Opening ENABLE Guarantees to new types of lenders aims to increase the diversity of both supplier and type of finance available to smaller businesses

The British Business Bank’s ENABLE Guarantee programme is now accepting applications from new types of lenders, with the aim of increasing the diversity of both supplier and type of finance available to smaller businesses.

The extension means the programme can now support asset finance and asset-based lending providers, as well as certain other categories of lender. Participants in the programme are required to lend – or intend to lend – to viable small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the UK. Previously, eligibility was restricted solely to UK banks and UK branches of foreign banks.

By expanding the programme to new types of lenders the Bank will now be able to support more specialised lending to a broader range of smaller finance providers.

Our ENABLE Guarantee programme helps smaller businesses in the UK access the right funding by supporting a wide range of lending products. This extension to the programme will increase the range of options available and help more UK smaller businesses to access the finance they need to prosper and grow. - Reinald de Monchy Managing Director, Guarantee and Wholesale Solutions, British Business Bank
Through our modern Industrial Strategy we are fully committed to supporting our small businesses to succeed while retaining our status as one of the best places in the world to start and grow a small business. - Kelly Tolhurst Small Business Minister
This enhancement of the ENABLE Guarantee, supported by the Government-backed British Business Bank, reflects the changed landscape for business finance. Thanks to the innovation of our world-leading FinTech sector, finance markets for smaller businesses are more diverse than ever before. Extending the ENABLE Guarantee to lenders other than banks will help the growth of new entrants and new products, providing greater choice and competition for SMEs. - Kelly Tolhurst Small Business Minister

Under the ENABLE Guarantee programme, the UK Government takes on a portion of the lender’s risk on a portfolio of loans to smaller businesses, in return for a fee. The British Business Bank has so far committed guarantees for live portfolios of over £900m under its ENABLE Guarantee programme (as at end April 2019).

The Request for Proposals for the ENABLE Guarantee programme can be downloaded from the British Business Bank website.

Further Information

Notes to editors

About British Business Bank

The British Business Bank is the UK government’s economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to make finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, enabling those businesses to prosper, grow and build UK economic activity. Its remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller business access to finance programmes for the UK government.

The British Business Bank programmes are supporting more than £5.9bn of finance to over 82,000 smaller businesses (as at end of September 2018).

As well as increasing both supply and diversity of finance for UK smaller businesses through its programmes, the Bank works to raise awareness of the finance options available to smaller businesses:

The new British Business Bank Finance Hub provides independent and impartial information to high-growth businesses about their finance options, featuring short films, expert guides, checklists and articles from finance providers to help make their application a success. The new site also features case studies and learnings from real businesses to guide businesses through the process of applying for growth finance.

As the holding company of the group operating under the trading name of British Business Bank, British Business Bank plc is wholly owned by HM Government and is not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The British Business Bank operates under its own brand name through a number of subsidiaries, one of which is authorised and regulated by the FCA.

British Business Bank plc and its principal operating subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. A complete legal structure chart for British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries can be found on the British Business Bank plc website.

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