British Business Bank backs £9.4bn of finance for UK smaller businesses
The British Business Bank today publishes its Annual Report and Accounts for 2025/26. The Bank returned its largest profit since 2021/22, with record delivery of finance and investment to smaller businesses across the UK’s Nations and regions.
The year has been defined by strong momentum in progressing the Bank’s mission to drive economic growth by helping smaller businesses get the finance they need to start, scale and stay in the UK. This impetus is illustrated by the finding that the finance provided in the last year is expected to deliver more than twice the average yearly GVA created in the Bank’s first decade of operation.
The Bank ended the year with greater financial capacity and structural freedoms, a clear mandate from the Government, and a new five-year strategic plan to continue delivering positive returns for the taxpayer while maximising the economic impact it has in the wider economy.
Louis Taylor, CEO, British Business Bank, said: “In 2025/26 the British Business Bank stepped up both the size and reach of its investments and deepened its support to strengthen the UK’s banking and alternative finance landscape for smaller businesses.
“The Bank has returned a pre-tax profit of £426m this year, a 3x increase on last year’s £144m profit. Our activities in 2025/26 are expected to produce an impact of 39,000 additional jobs and £8.8bn of gross value added over the life of the finance.
“With increased capacity for new funded commitments of £2.5bn a year, alongside issuing £2.1bn annually in guarantees, we are building momentum as we continue to invest at record levels and become a more confident, visible presence across the UK’s equity and debt finance markets. This year has started strongly.”
Performance against 2025/26 key performance indicators
The Bank performed strongly against targets set against its two measured objectives:
Economic Impact: £8.8bn GVA, of which £5.3bn generated outside London
Financial Return: 3.9% five-year adjusted return
The British Business Bank’s impact in 2025/26
Alongside its Annual Report and Accounts, the British Business Bank has published its third annual Impact Report. This shows that in 2025/26, the Bank supported a total of £9.4bn of finance for smaller businesses – £1.3bn was public funding, £4.3bn was private capital crowded in by the Bank, and £3.7bn came through lending the Bank guaranteed.
This enabled the Bank to support 30,000 businesses that hadn’t received Bank-supported funding before, as well as 8,000 that received follow-on funding in 2025/26. 87% of the newly-supported businesses were located outside of London.
The expected impacts over the life of this finance are:
- The creation of 39,000 additional jobs, with 340,000 existing jobs supported
- £19.7bn of additional business turnover, equivalent to £8.8bn expected increase in UK economic output
- More than £100m boost to GVA in each and every UK Nation and region
Other key figures
- £115m of realised gains in 2025/26, taking the Bank’s lifetime Multiple on Invested Capital (MOIC) to 2.2x
- Underlying operating costs as a proportion of Assets Under Management reduced to 1.08%
- Investment portfolio growth of 25% to £5.8bn, made up of £4.4bn of equity and £1.5bn of debt
- 26% increase in guarantee commitments to £2.5bn, made up of £1.2bn in structured guarantees and £1.3bn Growth Guarantee Scheme
Stephen Welton, chair, British Business Bank, said: “The Bank, headquartered in Sheffield, with more than half of its workforce based outside its London office, is embedded in the communities and markets it supports as a champion of smaller businesses. We are making significant progress driving impact across the Nations and regions of the UK, in the last decade delivering over £40bn of GVA and more than 250,000 additional jobs.
“With two clear lines of business, over £25bn in financial capacity and greater flexibility, we are increasing access to finance for thousands of smaller businesses alongside supporting high growth innovative companies with equity investment. At a time when the UK must increase growth in every part of the country the role of the Bank, working closely with key partners on a local basis, is to do just that, targeting by 2030 up to 370,000 new jobs and up to £57bn of additional GVA under our Five-year Strategic Plan. These results show how the Bank is scaling up to deliver that.”