1pm plc, the AIM listed independent specialist provider of finance facilities to UK SMEs, has today been approved for accreditation by the British Business Bank under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), term loan and asset finance variants on Tuesday, May 5.

The British Business Bank has approved 1pm Finance (UK) Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of 1pm plc, which trades as Onepm Finance (“Onepm”), to be an accredited participating lender under CBILS.

Onepm expects to commence lending through CBILS in May 2020, once it has completed staff training, and the required legal and operational approvals with the Bank.

Keith Morgan, CEO, British Business Bank, said: “Our accredited lenders have seen an incredible demand for CBILS since the scheme became available. As a non-bank alternative finance provider, this accreditation means Onepm will be able to further support its smaller business customers and continues the British Business Bank’s long-term support of non-bank lenders to offer more diverse sources of finance.”

More than 80% of the UK’s smaller businesses have a finance relationship with CBILS’ 50+ accredited lenders. The British Business Bank is accelerating at pace the onboarding of new lenders to further extend the scheme’s reach.

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.