The Business Bounce Back Loan and Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund

The Business Bounce Back Loan and Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund are two schemes in place to help support SMEs during these difficult times. They were introduced in early May and have been implemented to give businesses cash injections to allow them to continue to operate during and after the pandemic.

Business Bounce Back Loan (BBBL)

The Bounce Back Loan scheme is in place to help small and medium-sized businesses to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000.

The government guarantees 100% of the loan and there will not be any fees or interest to pay for the first 12 months.

Loan terms will be up to 6 years. No repayments will be due during the first 12 months. The government will work with lenders to agree a low rate of interest for the remaining period of the loan.

Guidance on how to apply is given on the British Business Bank Website

Your business must be able to self‑declare to the lender that it:

• has been impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
• was not a business in difficulty at 31 December 2019 (if it was, you must confirm your business complies with additional state aid restrictions under de minimis state aid rules)
• is engaged in trading or commercial activity in the UK and was established by 1 March 2020
• is not using the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) or the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility Scheme (CCFF), unless the Bounce Back Loan will refinance the whole of the CBILS, CLBILS or CCFF facility
• derives more than 50% of its income from its trading activity (this requirement does not apply to charities or further-education colleges)

SME Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund

The Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund is for businesses that can play a critical role in supporting Scotland’s recovery but need some immediate support. It might be to get back up and running or to maintain or diversify your current operations.

To access the fund, you must meet these criteria to apply:

• Your company has up to 249 employees that have been trading successfully before Covid19
• Less than £50 million turnover or balance sheet total of £43 million
• Can demonstrate the funding will support business to be viable
• You were not in financial difficulty before 31 December 2019

This fund is for businesses making an impact on the Scottish economy on a local, regional, or national level. Businesses must be involved in or meet one of the following criteria:

• Can drive economic prosperity through wages, employment, exports, supply chain etc.
• Be a supplier or potential supplier to NHS or other COVID-19 vital services
• A supplier to other essential businesses
• Can scale up or diversify due to COVID-19 opportunities

It will take up to 10 working days between applying and receiving the funds.

The fund is currently paused for new applications while the applications already received are processed.

If you have any questions about the contents of this blog post, please feel free to contact us.

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