First lenders accredited for new iteration of Recovery Loan Scheme

The British Business Bank has announced the first five lenders to be accredited under the new iteration of the government’s Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS).

Earlier versions of the RLS ran between April 2021 and June 2022, with the government providing lenders with a guarantee against some £4.5bn worth of business loans in the wake of the Covid pandemic.

In the latest iteration of RLS lenders will be able to offer loans of up to £2m to businesses with a turnover of up to £45m. The government guarantee for lenders on these loans will remain at 70 per cent.

While up to 80 lenders were accredited for previous versions of the scheme, the accreditation list has been reset with the British Business Bank working to accredit a new list of lenders.

The first lenders to join are the Bank of Scotland, Coventry & Warwickshire Reinvestment Trust (CWRT), Lloyds Bank, NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland, with more coming soon.

While the RLS covers term loans, overdrafts, asset finance and invoice finance, it’s up to lenders to choose which products they offer.

Term lengths under this latest version of RLS are from three months up to six years for term loans and asset finance, while overdrafts and invoice finance are from three months up to three years.