UK announces expanding financing support for British bizs by $26.27 bn

The new package will give UK Export Finance (UKEF) the power to expand financing support for British businesses by £20 billion ($26.27 billion); small businesses can also access loans of up to £2 million ($2.62 million) through the British Business Bank’s Growth Guarantee Scheme.

Thousands of companies are expected to benefit from the move, including those directly affected by tariffs, an official release said.

UK businesses can now access government-backed finance and support to grow their presence both domestically and overseas, create new jobs and drive economic growth as part of the Plan for Change.

UKEF will also offer businesses partial loan guarantees through more flexible uses of its Export Development Guarantee, helping to mitigate the impact of new tariffs and associated economic uncertainty.

Of the £80 billion in all, up to £10 billion will be allocated to ensure that businesses significantly hit in the short term by the current situation have access to the finance they need to grow.

The British Business Bank will also expand its Growth Guarantee Scheme by £500 million, which will provide vital finance for smaller businesses as they look to invest and grow.

This scheme provides the lender with a 70-per cent government-backed guarantee against loans or other types of finance, enabling lenders to support smaller businesses that would struggle to obtain financing through traditional means—and has so far enabled more than £2.1 billion of lending.

This comes on top of £1 billion of funding for British Business Bank programmes for this financial year, confirmed at Autumn Budget 2024. This includes funding for start-up loans and additional funding for three equity programmes supporting innovative high growth businesses.

The British Chambers of Commerce welcomed the announcement.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)