Two pieces of good news for businesses. On Monday the Government launched a new type of loan aimed at helping small businesses throughout the country to get through the current crisis. Some small businesses had experienced trouble with the complexity and speed of accessing the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and were seriously worried about their future. As a result, the Treasury have devised a new scheme that is simpler and faster to access. The new Bounce Back Loans scheme means that businesses will be able to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000, and to access this money within days. These loans will be interest free for the first 12 months and businesses can apply online through a short and simple form. This scheme will be provided with a 100% Government backed guarantee meaning funding providers won’t have to bear any of the risk on this particular loan which should mean it is rolled out quickly and smoothly. Government will also be covering any fees related to the loans and there will be no repayments due during the first 12 months. Small businesses are the basis of many of our great communities throughout the country and this scheme will offer them further protection to help weather this storm. The full list of accredited lenders offering this new loan can be found here and will grow as new lenders gain accreditation:
I sincerely hope that this new scheme will help provide some much-needed financing to small businesses throughout the Constituency to help them get through these tough times.
The other piece of good news is that the Government has scrapped the requirement for businesses to provide a cash forecast in order to access a CBILS loan. This was somewhat absurd anyway, as businesses have no more visibility than anyone else about how long trading will be affected by the pandemic. I am glad the banks have been told to be sensible about this and hope we will see a greater takeup of the government-backed loans scheme. Please let me know if you are experiencing difficulties of any kind with the bank.