The Growth Guarantee Scheme is about to get considerably more useful, and almost nobody is writing about it.
On 12 July the Chancellor announced the biggest set of changes to the scheme since it launched. The turnover ceiling goes up. The maximum term nearly doubles for some products. Billions more in guaranteed lending capacity gets added.
Here is the part every other write-up has skipped: none of it has landed yet. The scheme's published rules still describe the old limits. Which makes this a planning story rather than an application story, and planning stories are the ones worth getting ahead of.
01What was announced
- Turnover eligibility rises from £45m to £54m, measured on a group basis
- Maximum term extends from six to 10 years. The British Business Bank describes the longer term as applying to some products, not all
- £6.5bn of additional market lending over four years, supporting an estimated 33,000 businesses
For scale: the scheme has already delivered £3.7bn through 70 accredited partners, and around 70% of that went to businesses outside London and the South East.
02What the rules still say today
At the time of writing, both the British Business Bank and the gov.uk page that mirrors it publish the pre-announcement position:
- Turnover up to £45m, group basis
- Up to £2m per business group, or £1m within scope of the Northern Ireland Protocol
- Term loans and asset finance, three months to six years
- Overdrafts, invoice finance and asset based lending, three months to three years
If you have seen around £1.1m quoted as the scheme maximum, that is wrong. The published cap is £2m per business group.
03The 70% guarantee is not for you
This is the single most misread feature of the scheme, so here it is in the British Business Bank's own words:
The scheme provides the lender with a government-backed 70% guarantee against the outstanding balance of the facility. Your business remains 100% liable for repayment of the facility.
It is risk cover sold to the lender so it can say yes to businesses it might otherwise decline. It is not insurance on your borrowing. Treat any copy implying otherwise as a reason to slow down.
04Why the term is the change that matters
The turnover cap only moves the door for businesses sitting right on the old threshold. Term is different, because term governs affordability. The same borrowing over 10 years instead of six costs materially less each month, and that is what decides whether a set of accounts can carry a facility at all.
We have written the full version, including who newly qualifies and what the scheme actually says about how you can spend the money: the expanded Growth Guarantee Scheme rules every UK SME owner should know.
bizbritain arranges Growth Guarantee Scheme eligible loans as part of business growth finance. The panel is 100+ lenders. If the expanded rules put the scheme in reach, that is the place to start.
Scheme details as published by the British Business Bank and gov.uk at the time of writing, and subject to change. Applications are subject to status, affordability and lender criteria.
