PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Business: Loans (10 October 2018)

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on supporting companies that have potential cash-flow problems after the UK leaves the EU.

Asked by:
Sir John Hayes (Conservative)

The Department continues to engage regularly both across Whitehall and with business and industry on the matter of exiting the EU.

Regarding financial support for business, the British Business Bank already offers a number of programmes and support mechanisms to small businesses at all stages of their development. British Business Bank programmes are already supporting more than £5.2bn of finance to nearly 75,000 smaller businesses (as at August 2018).

Through the British Business Bank’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee programme EFG a lender is enabled to extend credit to businesses which, while viable, may have insufficient security to otherwise secure credit lines to support their businesses; this can include revolving facilities, such as overdrafts, and can be a powerful tool in supporting SMEs needing working capital.

The British Business Bank also supports a variety of cash flow finance options through its Investment programme, including unsecured loans to businesses through alternative providers such as debt funds and peer to peer platforms, and dedicated cash flow lenders who can advance loans to small businesses secured against their future income, such as invoices payable or future credit card payments.

Businesses are encouraged to explore the variety of funding opportunities available to them and to visit the British Business Bank’s Finance Hub which can direct them to the most appropriate sources of support: https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/finance-hub/.

As negotiations progress, the Department is working hard to put plans in place that ensure businesses across the UK can easily access the information they need to properly prepare for our departure from the EU.

We will continue to listen to businesses up and down the country through our regular engagements.

In addition, we will continue to publish all relevant material on gov.uk. Businesses can register to get information on the progress of negotiations direct to their inbox by signing up to the DExEU stakeholder bulletin.

Answered by:
Kelly Tolhurst (Conservative)
23 October 2018