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Barclays Corporate Banking launches largest ever loan cashback scheme to boost UK SME investment, supported by British Business Bank

Press release 28 January 2020

Barclays Corporate Banking has today announced the launch of a new cashback scheme for term loans to eligible SME borrowers in the UK. Supported by a £450m ENABLE Guarantee from the British Business Bank, this scheme is the largest of its kind to launch in the UK.

The British Business Bank’s ENABLE Guarantee programme helps banks to increase their lending to smaller businesses by reducing the amount of capital required to be held against such lending1.

One of the key benefits of the ENABLE programme for customers is that Barclays will offer qualifying SMEs cashback on eligible lending, with the intention of supporting SME growth in the UK.

Through this scheme, £450m has been made available to enable more SME term lending which meets the eligibility criteria, with companies benefiting from 0.25% cashback on eligible loans2. Businesses with up to 250 employees and a turnover of up to £43m are eligible to apply.

Today’s funding announcement from Barclays further demonstrates our commitment to businesses across the UK who represent the core of our economy. As one of the initiatives from Barclays’ current £14bn lending fund in support of SMEs, we’re offering practical and attractive ways for firms to access the capital they need to help them grow and prosper and at the same time, we have been able to further strengthen our partnership with the British Business Bank. - Tasnim Ghiawadwala Head of UK Corporate Banking, Barclays
Term loans are an essential part of the finance landscape for smaller UK businesses, enabling them to make larger longer-term purchases of business assets such as computers, plant and machinery, and vehicles. We are pleased to be working with Barclays to help businesses access the finance they need to grow and thrive. - Keith Morgan CEO, British Business Bank
This is a fantastic initiative from Barclays and the British Business Bank. I would encourage other lenders to take advantage of the guarantees for lending on offer from the government-owned British Business Bank, so we can work together to help our brilliant businesses unleash their potential. - Kelly Tolhurst Small Business Minister

This scheme is one of the initiatives included in Barclays’ £14bn lending fund in support of UK Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, and demonstrates our commitment to the SME Finance Charter3.

For further information, please contact your local Barclays Corporate Banking Relationship Director.

Further Information

Notes to editors

  1. The ENABLE Guarantee is provided to Barclays and not to the borrower, who remains responsible for repaying the whole of the facility at all times. For more information please visit: The ENABLE Guarantee programme
  2. Eligible loans are over £1.2m to a maximum of £5m
  3. The £14.7bn UK-wide fund is made up of £11.3bn from Barclays Bank UK PLC and £3.4bn from Barclays Bank PLC, and is a three-year commitment. This fund is intended for SMEs at several stages of growth and development, and includes a range of business lending services to participating UK businesses (subject to application and status).

About Barclays

Barclays is a transatlantic consumer and wholesale bank offering products and services across personal, corporate and investment banking, credit cards and wealth management, with a strong presence in our two home markets of the UK and the US.

With over 325 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays operates in over 40 countries and employs approximately 83,500 people. Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money for customers and clients worldwide.

For further information about Barclays, please visit our website barclays.com.

About British Business Bank

The British Business Bank is the UK government’s economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to make finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, enabling those businesses to prosper, grow and build UK economic activity. Its remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller business access to finance programmes for the UK government.

The British Business Bank programmes are supporting more than £7.0bn of finance to over 91,000 smaller businesses (as at end of June 2019).

As well as increasing both supply and diversity of finance for UK smaller businesses through its programmes, the Bank works to raise awareness of the finance options available to smaller businesses:

The new British Business Bank Finance Hub provides independent and impartial information to high-growth businesses about their finance options, featuring short films, expert guides, checklists and articles from finance providers to help make their application a success. The new site also features case studies and learnings from real businesses to guide businesses through the process of applying for growth finance.

As the holding company of the group operating under the trading name of British Business Bank, British Business Bank plc is wholly owned by HM Government and is not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The British Business Bank operates under its own brand name through a number of subsidiaries, none of which are authorised and regulated by the FCA.

British Business Bank plc and its principal operating subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. A complete legal structure chart for British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries can be found on the British Business Bank plc website.

The ENABLE Guarantee programme is administered by British Business Financial Services Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of British Business Bank plc.

The guarantee from British Business Financial Services Ltd to Barclays does not amount to any endorsement or warranty from British Business Financial Services Ltd, the British Business Bank plc, or the government of the UK.

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