A new temporary Business Interruption Loan Scheme, delivered by the British Business Bank, will launch by the start of next week (23 March 2020) to support businesses to access bank lending, overdrafts, asset finance and invoice finance up to a value of £5 million. The government will provide lenders with a guarantee of 80% on each loan (subject to a per- lender cap on claims) to give lenders further confidence in continuing to provide finance to SMEs. The government will not charge businesses or banks for this guarantee, and will also cover the first six months of interest payments and fees.
In practice, businesses will be able to get finance under the scheme from a large number of providers, including the main high street banks, as of next week (23 March 2020).
Businesses will remain responsible for repaying any facility they take out.
More information on the scheme, including the list of lenders who will be offering finance under it, can be found on the British Business Bank website.
We will update this page with any more information when we receive it.