Today the British Business Bank has announced that it has approved a new lender for accreditation to the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) and three new lenders for accreditation under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).

JCB Finance will join the other 18 BBLS lenders who have been accredited since the scheme opened last month.

New CBILS lenders Arbuthnot Commercial ABL, Shire Leasing, and Silicon Valley Bank will also be able to provide financial support to smaller businesses across the UK that are losing revenue and seeing their cashflow disrupted, as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Following their approval, each lender will be putting in place the operations required to start lending under the scheme and will confirm shortly the dates from which they will be ready to start receiving applications from smaller businesses across the UK.

Keith Morgan, CEO, British Business Bank, said: “Our accredited lenders have seen an incredible demand for Covid-19 business loan schemes since they became available. Accrediting these additional finance providers means further support for smaller business customers and continues the British Business Bank’s long-term objective to offer more diverse sources of finance to smaller businesses.”

Government published statistics show more than 745,000 businesses have to date[1] benefitted from over £31 billion in loans and guarantees to support their cashflow during the crisis through schemes delivered by the British Business Bank. This includes 45,843 facilities worth £8.9bn through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, and 699,354 facilities worth £21.2bn through the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.

The accelerated accreditation process the British Business Bank has put in place for coronavirus schemes means it has been able to increase the number of lenders on the CBILS scheme by 98% since the scheme’s launch, increasing the number from 41 to more than 80.

The Bank continues to review applications from a wide range of lender types – from PRA-regulated banks, to platform lenders, debt funds, invoice finance lenders, asset finance lenders and responsible finance lenders.