The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme is now closed to new applications.
If you have a query about CBILS, or wish to discuss an outstanding application, please contact us in the usual way.
Recovery Loan Scheme
A new debt finance programme, the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS), was announced by the Government in the Budget on 3 March 2021. The new Scheme, which will open on 6 April 2021, aims to support businesses affected by Covid-19 as they recover and grow following the pandemic. RLS supports a maximum facility size of up to £10m with minimum facility sizes starting at £1,000 for Invoice and Asset Finance and £25,001 for Term Loans and Overdrafts. Further information can be found on the British Business Bank website.
Launched by the British Business Bank in response to the Covid-19 outbreak, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) was designed to support UK small and medium-sized businesses who had been adversely affected by the outbreak and was only available through accredited CBILS lenders.
The scheme enabled lenders to provide facilities of up to £5m to smaller businesses across the UK who were experiencing lost or deferred revenues, leading to disruptions to their cashflow.
Key features
- CBILS backed loan from Enterprise Answers of up to £100,000
- Repayment terms up to 5 years
- No guarantee fee for SMEs to access the scheme
- The borrower remains fully liable for the debt
- The scheme provides the lender with a government-backed guarantee for 80% of the value of the loan
- No personal guarantees for facilities under £250,000
- Principal Private Residence (PPR) – A borrowers/guarantors PPR cannot be taken as security to support a Personal Guarantee or as security for a CBIL backed facility
- The Government will make a Business Interruption Payment to cover the first 12 months of interest payments and any lender-levied fees, so smaller businesses will benefit from no upfront costs and lower initial repayments
Eligibility
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme is now closed to new applications.
CBILS loans through Enterprise Answers were available to businesses based in:
- Cumbria
- The Yorkshire Dales
- North Lancashire
You must also:
- Require a loan of between £50,001 and £100,000
- Have an annual turnover of no more than £45 million
- Have a borrowing proposal which we would consider viable, if not for the coronavirus pandemic
- Be able to self-certify that your business has been adversely impacted by coronavirus
- Have not already taken a loan through the Bounce Back Loan Scheme
- Have less than 250 employees (full-time equivalent)
Your business must generate more than 50% of its turnover from trading activity.
Your CBILS-backed facility will be used to support primarily trading in the UK.
You must not be a business in difficulty.
The definition of ‘undertaking in difficulty’ includes businesses that:
had accumulated losses greater than half of their subscribed share capital (for limited liability companies) or capital (for unlimited liability companies)
had entered into collective insolvency proceedings or fulfilled the criteria to be put into collective insolvency proceedings
had previously received rescue aid that was yet to be reimbursed or (in the case of a guarantee, terminated)
had received restructuring aid and were still under a restructuring plan
had (where the undertaking is not an SME) fallen below the required solvency ratios for the previous two years
Eligibility & Application
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme is now closed to new applications.
This is a loan product, not a grant, and so serviceability must be demonstrated. It may also be necessary to provide security. Note that no business owner will be asked to put up their principal private residence as security.
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan programme is managed by the British Business Bank on behalf of, and with the financial backing of, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. For full details visit www.british-business-bank.co.uk/CBILS
