British Business Bank increases financial capacity to £25.6bn

On Wednesday, 11th of June, the Government has announced that it is transforming the resources and capabilities of the British Business Bank to deliver the UK’s modern industrial strategy and boost growth, marking a major step change in financing to support smaller businesses to start and scale in the UK.

The British Business Bank’s total financial capacity will be increased to £25.6bn, which will enable a two-thirds increase in investments to around £2.5bn each year. This investment is expected to crowd in tens of billions of pounds of private capital and will support the most innovative UK businesses to access the capital they need to scale in the UK.

The British Business Bank is the largest investor in UK venture and venture growth capital funds- Its equity programmes has supported more than half of the UK’s current unicorns – 22 UK unicorns have been supported by the Bank’s equity programmes, representing 56 per cent of all current UK unicorns.

Reforms to the British Business Bank’s governance and financial arrangements have also been confirmed and will be implemented by the end of this financial year. These will place the Bank in a position to successfully deliver the increased level of investment activity and will mean the Bank has a newly-permanent capital base, with greater flexibility to re-invest returns over the long term to increase growth and prosperity across the UK.

Louis Taylor, CEO, British Business Bank, said:
“As the public financial institution with responsibility for supporting the growth of smaller businesses across the UK, the British Business Bank will play a critical role in delivering the UK’s upcoming modern Industrial Strategy.
We welcome today’s announcement by the Government, which is a strong endorsement of the British Business Bank’s 10-year track record, market access and capabilities, including our position as the largest investor in UK venture and venture growth capital funds and the most active late-stage investor in UK life sciences and deeptech.
To deliver the Government’s growth mission it is critical that our most promising entrepreneurs can access the finance they need to grow their businesses, no matter what their background or where they are located.”

Further details of new measures supported by the increase in capacity will be announced over the coming weeks.

Source: British Business Bank