Post CBILS lending: How lenders plan to help businesses with Covid-19 recovery after CBILS.
With the CBILS deadline fast approaching, there may be concern that economic recovery amongst SMEs will come to a halt once the government backed scheme ends on January 31st. Today, Funding Bay is reassured by three of our lenders about how they plan to adapt and help businesses post CBILS.
CBILS (Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme) has been a lifeline for thousands of small business owners around the country. The scheme was designed to help provide finance to UK businesses who have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Under the CBILS programme, the government lends money up to £5 million. This loan does not need to be repaid for the first 12 months, and you will not incur any fees for that year either. More than 55,000 UK businesses have been approved, with £12.2 billion in CBILS funding.
Alternative lenders have played a significant role in providing CBILS for SMEs, providing £57.3bn to 1.3 million businesses through the government’s Covid-19 loan schemes. Since April, Funding Bay has helped raise over £25 million for businesses ranging from cosmetic wholesalers, to pub groups; alongside our team of accredited lenders.
Despite CBILS ending on January 31st, a selection of our lenders have pledged to continue to help SMEs who have been impacted by Covid-19 continue to rebuild their businesses in the most adaptable manner.
Fleximize:
Peter Tuvey, Co-Founder and CEO of Fleximize, said: ‘We revamped our offering during the pandemic to ensure we could support SMEs for the long haul; our refreshed Flexiloan and brand new Flexiloan Lite have been introduced as a result of significant market research and have been designed around the needs of UK business owners trying to navigate the current economic climate. This means businesses can continue to access the funding they need even when government schemes come to a close.’
Growth Lending:
Lenders across the board have been adapting financial products in order to ensure clients can borrow in a more flexible environment. Growth Lending is adapting their focus towards their Revolving Credit Facility. The RCF is effectively an invoice/stock finance facility merged into one. The emphasis on this product is to help UK SMEs boost their working capital and encourage growth over the coming years. Julian Hornby of Growth Lending said “no one knows exactly what the 2021 market will look like but Growth Lending will be here to help”.
Credit4:
Furthermore, lenders have vouched to take a more personable approach with businesses in the new pandemic era. Credit4 has said: “We expect a big uplift in the demand for alternative business funding next year and are ready to help business owners fuel their growth plans. We will continue to help businesses in the post-COVID & CBILS world in the same way that we do now; with products which are transparently priced and with a human-led underwriting style, appraising each new client on a case-by-case basis.”
SMEs are the backbone of any healthy economy; they drive growth, provide employment opportunities, and open new markets. In the UK they account for three-fifths of the employment and around half of the turnover in the UK private sector. Lenders are therefore ensuring they are doing what they can to support small businesses amidst this new economic climate, beyond the stretch of CBILS.
With just under 2 months to go before the CBILS deadline, now is the time to apply. Get in contact with one Funding Bay’s brokers here.
