British Business Investments and IGF to increase SME funding with new cash injection
British Business Investments, the commercial arm of the British Business Bank, is to provide £30m of funding to SMEs through commercial finance provider Independent Growth Finance.
British Business Investments and IGF see this new injection of funding as an opportunity to get much needed working capital finance to fast-growing SMEs. Many of these businesses have struggled to get finance from traditional lenders, who have reduced their credit appetite since the 2008 financial crisis.
IGF is an emerging specialist provider of asset based lending products, with an appetite to provide not only ‘traditional’ invoice finance, but more innovative forms of finance. This allows SMEs to borrow against the assets they already own, including:
• Property owned and used by the business.
• Plant and equipment including a variety of machinery and production equipment.
• Inventory such as manufactured finished goods and stocks for resale.
John Onslow, CEO of IGF, said:
“Ten years on from the financial crisis, UK SMEs are still struggling to access the finance they need to grow their businesses.
“Our partnership with British Business Investments will provide much needed finance to SMEs. The finance we will be providing allows them to unlock the value of the assets they own and use them to borrow funds to expand and create jobs.
“We think that we have only begun to scratch the surface in this form of finance. It has enormous growth potential.”
IGF has been providing financing to SMEs since 1997, specialising in providing finance to businesses with a turnover between £500k and £100m per annum. The new funding line is open to SMEs who provide goods and services to other businesses.
In the 12 months to Sept 17, IGF increased to £53m the funding it provides to businesses across the UK, an increase of 180% year on year.
Catherine Lewis La Torre, chief executive officer at British Business Investments, said:
“For innovative smaller businesses, asset based lending can be the key to unlocking rapid growth without losing control of their business. This £30m commitment with IGF is another vital step in supporting businesses that are looking to expand, and is a further demonstration of our commitment to increasing the diversity of finance available to small businesses.”
