Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
New data published by the British Business Bank has revealed the regional distribution of loans under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS).
More than 1.4 million loans have supported businesses and protected jobs across all sectors. The figures show that the retail and construction sectors have benefitted the most, demonstrating how government support is helping those impacted hardest by the pandemic.
The government has invested more than £280 billion throughout the pandemic to protect millions of jobs and businesses, including extending the self-employed and furlough schemes through to April to give businesses the certainty they need to plan over the coming months. This includes the £4.6 billion the Chancellor announced last week in one-off top up grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property to help businesses through to the spring.
The data, published by the British Business Bank, shows that the proportion of overall loans in each of the nine English regions and three Devolved Nations matches closely their respective share of the UK business population. The North West reports the largest usage of CBILs and BBLS (11%) outside London and the South East (34%), just ahead of the East of England (10%).
The manufacturing sector has accessed a significantly higher proportion of CBILS loans (13%) than its share of the business population (5%), with wholesale and retail (18% v 9.2%) the second most over-represented sector for CBILS uptake.
For BBLS loans, the construction sector accessed the highest number of loans (17%), broadly in line with its proportion of the business population (16%). Wholesale and retail saw the highest proportion versus its share of business population (15% v 9%).
Catherine Lewis La Torre, Chief Executive Officer of the British Business Bank, said “Reducing regional imbalances in access to finance for smaller businesses is a key objective of the British Business Bank. Looking towards economic recovery, we’re pleased to see the Coronavirus loan schemes continuing to support smaller businesses across the UK in accessing the finance they need to help them to keep trading and to support their future growth plans.”
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said “These figures show very clearly that we have delivered on the solemn promise we made to support businesses across every part of the UK. While there are still tough times ahead, we will continue to offer all the support we can to protect jobs and keep businesses afloat so we can look to not only restart our economy, but build back better from the pandemic.”
Support has been spread across the country, with regions receiving loans proportionately to the amount of businesses located there. This shows that government support is helping those who need it. These loans are in addition to furlough, the self-employment income support scheme and business grants, as part of the government’s unprecedented £280 billion support package to protect jobs during the pandemic.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, said “Throughout this crisis, we have provided more than £280 billion of support to protect jobs and livelihoods up and down the country. We are committed to continuing to ensure jobs are protected and opportunity is created.”
Responding to data Stephen Pegge, Managing Director of Commercial Finance at UK Finance, said “The UK’s banking and finance industry is delivering an unprecedented level of support to businesses across the whole country to help them through these challenging times. Over 1.5 million businesses have been helped with government-guaranteed loans totalling over £68 billion, with SMEs now able to ‘top-up’ their Bounce Back Loan to the maximum of £50,000 or 25 per cent of their turnover, if lower.”
“Government-backed loans are just one part of the industry’s support for businesses across the UK, along with range of additional measures including working capital extensions, overdraft extensions and capital repayment holidays. The outlook for many businesses remains challenging in 2021 and the finance sector and related professional services are focused on the provision of capacity and expertise to help support the turnaround of companies where possible, while ensuring the sympathetic treatment of those businesses which are no longer viable.”
Summary of economic support to date: CBILS
| Region | Value of loan offered (£) | Number of loans offered |
|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 1,297,778,540 | 5,273 |
| East of England | 1,766,950,464 | 7,460 |
| London | 3,847,934,021 | 12,495 |
| North East | 493,314,081 | 1,994 |
| North West | 1,959,152,472 | 7,563 |
| Northern Ireland | 496,806,683 | 1,501 |
| Scotland | 982,517,603 | 4,144 |
| South East | 2,824,103,231 | 11,260 |
| South West | 1,534,026,632 | 6,416 |
| Wales | 503,355,434 | 2,228 |
| West Midlands | 1,486,023,928 | 6,077 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 1,260,361,190 | 5,415 |
| Unspecified | 67,328,939 | 190 |
| Region | Value of Loans Offered (£) | Number of Loans Offered |
|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 2,684,725,529 | 91,348 |
| East of England | 4,192,234,249 | 137,741 |
| London | 9,946,815,769 | 295,692 |
| North East | 1,249,741,795 | 44,858 |
| North West | 4,512,329,695 | 152,188 |
| Northern Ireland | 1,172,538,374 | 38,181 |
| Scotland | 2,496,404,756 | 86,062 |
| South East | 6,018,627,864 | 199,574 |
| South West | 3,275,798,746 | 116,063 |
| Wales | 1,524,813,850 | 55,094 |
| West Midlands | 3,520,737,158 | 114,715 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 2,986,264,487 | 101,197 |
| Unspecified | 62,547,705 | 2,017 |