The Government’s Covid-19 financial support schemes have now delivered over £65 billion in loans to businesses, it has been revealed.
The figures, published by the British Business Bank, come after the extension of key initiatives, such as the Bounce Back Loans Scheme (BBLS) and the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).
According to the report, almost £65.5 billion in 1,476,042 government-guaranteed loans have now been approved and issued to businesses to support them throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
This includes 1,397,475 Bounce Back Loans worth £42.2 billion, 77,909 loans worth £18.5 billion through the CBILS and 658 loans worth £4.8 billion through the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS).
Finance delivered through the Future Fund has also grown in popularity, with figures showing that there has been £875.8 million worth of convertible loans approved for 874 companies since the fund opened for applications on 20 May.
Convertible loans may be a suitable option for businesses that typically rely on equity investment and are “unable to access other government business support programmes because they are either pre-revenue or pre-profit”.
The report comes after the Government extended the schemes in November in response to the second national lockdown. The initiatives will now be available until at least the end of January 2021 to support directors who “did not anticipate the disruption to their business from the pandemic would go on for this long”.
For more business support, including advice on grant funding, investment, and corporate finance, please get in touch with our expert team today.