Bibby secures £1bn to support SMEs

With its extended three-year deal, the international finance provider aims to boost support for UK businesses through the economic downturn.

Bibby Financial Services (BFS) has renewed its UK securitisation deal to lock in £1bn to support businesses.

The international SME finance provider has extended the arrangement for the next three years to help businesses through a period of economic instability.

The deal was led by Lloyds Bank alongside HSBC, Barclays Bank and BayernLB, and saw participation from funds managed by Insight Investment.

It replaces an existing securitisation facility of around £700m to bring BFS’s total funding to more than £1bn.

“More than ever, UK SMEs need cashflow support to help them overcome challenges associated with an economic downturn, and to grow and thrive,” BFS CFO Theo Chatha said. 

“Our refinanced securitisation facility provides us with a significant opportunity to grow our funding support for these businesses, combining our SME specialism with greater financing capacity to help new and existing clients.”

BFS supports almost 9,000 SMEs around the world through invoice finance, asset finance and FX solutions, operating across Europe and Asia.

 “With economic and political instability throughout the world, businesses today face a series of significant challenges,” Chatha said.

He added that the funding signifies the company’s commitment to supporting SMEs “at a a time when they most need it”.

As the state of the UK economy remains uncertain, small businesses are expected to be some of the hardest hit.

With debts taken on to get through the pandemic and a looming recession, rising inflation rates and a lack of clear direction from the government ahead of the autumn statement, small businesses are looking for support and stability.