New recovery loan scheme replaces previous COVID-19 loans

Business Comments Off on New recovery loan scheme replaces previous COVID-19 loans

All UK businesses can access loans and other finance of up to £10 million each, following the end of COVID-19 loan schemes.

Both business interruption loans – for large firms and SMEs – and bounce-back loans officially closed on 31 March 2021.

Firms that received financial support from any of those schemes can apply for the recovery loan scheme from 6 April 2021.

UK businesses of any size can apply for a loan or overdraft of between £25,001 and £10m until the end of 2021, with interest and fees applying.

Invoice finance and asset finance worth between £1,000 and £10m per business is also available over the same period.

The Government hopes the scheme will help businesses recover and grow when lockdown restrictions begin to ease.

Suren Thiru, head of economics at the British Chambers of Commerce, said:

“Accessing finance remains crucial to the lifeblood of a business and so the announcement of a new loan scheme is welcome.

“The acid test for the new scheme will be whether it is able to support the recovery by getting credit flowing to the firms who most need it.

“The scheme must be right from day one to ensure that businesses and banks can use it to help SMEs return to growth.”

All but businesses deemed most high-risk are currently set to reopen on 17 May 2021.

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