FLA welcomes BBB £4.5 billion boost to support small businesses

The Finance Leasing Association (FLA) welcomed today’s announcement by the Secretary of State for business and trade that more than £4.5 billion will be allocated to the British Business Bank (BBB) as part of its government. I’ll help your business Small business plans.

The package aimed at strengthening small businesses (small businesses) across the UK will bolster four of the bank’s flagship initiatives. It offers expanded lending and guarantee programs, increased local investment, and increased certainty for lenders and entrepreneurs.

FLA Director Stephen Haddrill said the long-term nature of fundraising “stress positive business sentiment” and praised the move to set up key initiatives such as Enable and Growth Assurance Schemes on a safer scaffold.

“It’s great to see the BBB’s major initiatives put a long-term foothold to promote optimism and confidence,” Haddrill said, adding that this certainty would support “investment decisions that will equip individual businesses more than this year.”

British Business Bank’s Growth Guarantee Scheme was expanded until April 5, 2030, allowing lenders and small businesses to plan with greater confidence. So far, the scheme has promoted more than £2.6 billion in lending more than 16,000 facilities.

Other initiatives that have received significant boost include:

• Start a loan: It was expanded to provide over £1 billion in additional loans, with 69,000 loans expected over the spending review period. “We welcomed the support, saying it would help support growth and additional employment across the UK countries and regions.

• Enabling the warranty: The program’s capacity has increased by £3 billion to a total of £5 billion, expanding its scope between financial providers and small businesses.

• Local Angel Program: The 30% increase of £340 million will help improve access to early stage capital, benefit 800 small businesses and create an estimated 10,500 new jobs.

British Business Bank CEO Louis Taylor called the £4.5 billion allocation “essential additional capacity” to support both debt and equity financing initiatives. “We look forward to seeing even smaller businesses reach their full potential while creating more economic growth, jobs and prosperity,” he said.

The funds form part of a broader £25.6 billion commitment based on the government’s 2025 spending review. This will allow BBB to increase its annual investment to approximately £2.5 billion from April 2026.

The government has also introduced business growth services within a wider SME plan aimed at providing tailored advice and support to SME owners. Haddrill said the service was “well-performed and transformative.”