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 InnovationWhat is the Growth Guarantee Scheme?
How much has the Growth Guarantee Scheme been expanded by?
How many businesses will the Growth Guarantee Scheme help?
Background
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.
