Government announces emergency bounce bank loans for small businesses
Small businesses will benefit from a new fast-track finance scheme providing loans with a 100% government-backed guarantee for lenders
28th April 2020
Yesterday, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a new scheme to provide up to £50,000 of finance to small businesses that need further help through the Covid-19 crisis.
Businesses will be able to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000 and access the cash within days
Loans will be interest free for the first 12 months and businesses can apply online through a short and simple form, with a 100% government-backed guarantee for lenders.
The scheme will launch for applications on Monday 4 May. Firms will be able to access these loans through a network of accredited lenders.
You will not be able to apply if you have already secured a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, but you will be able to switch the loan to this scheme through your lender.
Full details will be published soon here
The scheme has been designed to ensure that small firms who need vital cash injections to keep operating can get finance in a matter of days, and comes alongside the £6 billion awarded in business grants, supporting 4 million jobs through the job retention scheme and generous tax deferrals supporting hundreds of thousands of firms.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, said:
"Our smallest businesses are the backbone of our economy and play a vital role in their communities. This new rapid loan scheme will help ensure they get the finance they need quickly to help survive this crisis.
This is in addition to business grants, tax deferrals, and the job retention scheme, which are already helping to support hundreds of thousands of small businesses."
Business Secretary Alok Sharma said:
"Our small businesses are vital in ensuring our communities thrive and will be crucial in creating jobs and securing economic growth as we recover.
This rapid loan scheme offers additional protection so small companies across the country can get access to the finance they need immediately, as part of the unprecedented package of support we have put in place."
The government will work with lenders to ensure loans delivered through this scheme are advanced as quickly as possible and agree a low standardised level of interest for the remaining period of the loan.