Growth Guarantee Scheme
British Business Bank scheme guaranteeing SME lending, expanded to £6.5bn in July 2026.
Last refreshed: 14 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Does a bigger loan guarantee actually get banks lending to Britain's smallest science firms?
Timeline for Growth Guarantee Scheme
£6.5bn guarantee targets the debt tier
UK Startups and InnovationBackground
The British Business Bank unveiled a £6.5bn expansion of the Growth Guarantee Scheme on 13 July 2026, guaranteeing lending to around 33,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) over four years. The package also adds new export-finance and community-lender support alongside backing for intellectual-property-rich firms.
The scheme guarantees loans rather than handing out cash: the Bank underwrites the risk so high-street lenders extend credit they might otherwise refuse, succeeding the pandemic-era Recovery Loan Scheme. It targets the sub-£2m debt tier that sits below the equity cheques written by vehicles such as the National Wealth Fund, reaching businesses too small for venture capital.
Its bite depends on take-up: the guarantee only works if banks actually extend the credit it underwrites. The expansion landed the same week the state made its biggest-ever direct life-sciences bet, part of an uneven pattern of UK Science funding across debt, equity and research infrastructure.
