This afternoon Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a new ‘easy’ style loan, entitled the ‘bounce back’ loan, for small businesses in the UK.
Responding to criticism relating to the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) which has managed to issue just 16,000 loans (compared to 250,000 for the similar loans in France), a new loan option will be available from 9am next Monday (4th May).
The good news is that the loan, of up to £50,000, will be 100% guaranteed by the government (unlike the CBILS which is, and will remain, only 80% guaranteed). He also announced that he expects most of the loans to be released within 24 hours of approval.
He also explained that the loan application system will be simplified with ‘no forward-looking test of business viability, no complex eligibility criteria, just a simple, quick standard form for businesses to fill in’.
The loans will be between £2,000 and £50,000 and will be calculated using 25% of your turnover (with the £50K maximum). The loans will be interest free for 12 months and will be available through ‘a network of accredited lenders’.
Hopefully these will be as simple to apply for and as quick to materialise as they sound.
We will update when the accredited lenders are announced, although it seems likely they will be through the main banks again, and when the website to apply is confirmed.