Third iteration of RLS led to £1.4bn in lending
The third iteration of the government-backed Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) resulted in almost £1.4bn being loaned to UK-based businesses.
More than 6,000 small businesses have drawn over £1.15bn of finance so far, the British Business Bank (BBB) said in the latest update on the scheme.
The bank also revealed that more than half of that £1.15bn has been used for business investment and growth.
Over 90 per cent of the RLS facilities have supported companies which have fewer than 50 employees. Of that 90 per cent, more than 65 per cent of facilities were provided to businesses with fewer than 10 employees.
“The RLS was an important intervention at a critical time for UK smaller businesses,” said Reinald de Monchy, managing director, guarantee and wholesale solutions at the BBB.
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“What this data publication demonstrates is just how important it has been to delivering growth and working capital across our nations and regions, and we are looking forward to its transition to the Growth Guarantee Scheme in Summer 2024.”
In the Spring Budget, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt extended the RLS until 31 March 2026 and rebranded it as the Growth Guarantee Scheme. The latest iteration of the RLS is due to end at the end of June 2024.
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The RLS was initially introduced to support smaller UK businesses as they bounced back after Covid. It has been made available to any UK-based company with a turnover of up to £45m, and was intended to plug the financing gap which has prevailed in recent years.
The scheme is administered by the BBB, which is the UK government’s economic development bank. The BBB has delivered all of the government’s coronavirus loan schemes and its future fund, which together have delivered £80.4bn in finance to 1.67m businesses. All of these schemes are now closed to new applicants.
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