Keep Calm and Prepare (2)

23rd March 2020

Further to our e-brief of earlier this week as expected the British Business Bank (“BBB”) have now released further details of the governments Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (“CBILS”) https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/ourpartners/coronavirus-business-interruption-loanscheme-cbils/

To summarise

  • The Scheme has been brought forward and will become available in the week commencing 23 March 2020;
     
  • CBILS will support a wide range of business finance products including;

 o   Term Facilities 
 
o   Overdrafts
 
o   Invoice Finance Facilities 
 
o   Asset Finance Facilities 

  • The Scheme provides the lender with a government backed guarantee potentially enabling a “no” credit decision to become a “yes”.  The borrower remains 100% liable for the debt.
     
  •  The government covers the first 6 months of interest payments.
     
  • Terms are from 3 months up to 10 years for term loans and asset finance and up to three years for revolving facilities and invoice finance.

In order to be eligible you must have a sound borrowing proposal, but insufficient security to meet the lenders requirements. The facility is NOT, as published, available to all businesses impacted by the Coronavirus.  The important message is that all applications for facilities should be on the same basis as pre Coronavirus and where necessary you should engage your accountants to assist in demonstrating that you have “a sound borrowing proposal”.  You are likely to only have one application and therefore preparation is of the utmost importance.  

The BBS recommends that businesses may wish to approach one or more participating lenders, details of which are contained in the link.

As a personal comment, the government appear to be recognising that the measures to date are inadequate and have now indicated that a package of wage support for firms will be announced today. It is only instant action which will impact upon management’s decisions regarding workforce, however that will cost the government immediately, something which to date they have seemed to avoid.

If there are further updates then we will correspond accordingly.

If you require any further information please don’t hesitate to call one of us on the numbers below;

Paul Ellison                          07967 471211 / [email protected]
Robert Keyes                       07500 933 022 / [email protected]
Gareth Roberts                    07979 706 392 / [email protected]
David Taylor                         07855 231 103 / [email protected]