Recovery Loan Scheme (iteration 3) Performance Data as at 30 June 2024

20 August 2024

On 1 August 2022, applications opened for the government announced third iteration of the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS 3). The British Business Bank launch supported the ongoing commitment to empower UK smaller businesses to invest and grow through sustainable, accessible funding.

Originally due to end on 30 June 2024, it was announced in the Spring Budget that the scheme would be extended for a further two years until 31 March 2026. To reflect the successful evolution of the scheme it has also been renamed the Growth Guarantee Scheme, which successfully launched on 1 July 2024. Data for this new phase will be combined with historical data for RLS 3 and included in future publications.

RLS 3 is a government-backed loan scheme designed to support access to finance and growth for UK businesses with turnover of up to £45m. The Government provides a 70% guarantee to the lender of the outstanding scheme facility amount. The borrower remains 100% liable for the debt. Further details on the Recovery Loan Scheme are available on the British Business Bank website. 

RLS 3 is supported by a diverse group of more than 60 lenders, to date delivering £1.45bn in financing to UK smaller businesses, with £1.02bn of that funding reaching businesses outside of London and the South-East.

The first two iterations of the Recovery Loan Scheme enabled £4.33bn of finance. Data for RLS iteration 1 & 2 is separately published.

    Performance

    This is the second publication of Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS 3). The performance data for this publication is as at 30 June 2024. It should be noted that the data is reliant on information submitted to the British Business Bank’s scheme portal by accredited lenders.

    RLS 3 has been utilised to enable 9,083 scheme facilities, totalling £1.45bn and driving the sustainability and growth of the associated smaller UK businesses. To date, 38 lender claims of £2.06m have been settled by the British Business Bank against the Government guarantee. This equates to 0.14% of the total drawn value or 0.42% of the total number of drawn facilities.

    Detailed facility status

    See Definitions below when interpreting these tables.

      Summary Facility Status

      Furthest life event reached

      Number of facilities

      % Number of facilities

      Outstanding balance (£m)

      Final value (£m)

      On Schedule

      8,540

      94.02%

      1,227.32

      -

      Arrears

      155

      1.71%

      17.00

      -

      Defaulted

      137

      1.51%

      20.26

      -

      Claimed

      17

      0.19%

      1.07

      -

      Settled

      38

      0.42%

      -

      2.06

      Fully Repaid

      196

      2.16%

      -

      41.04

      Grand Total

      9,083

      100.00%

      1,265.65

      43.10

      Note on Table 

      The aggregate total of Outstanding Balances and Final Values do not sum up to the total Drawn Value due to changes in facility amounts outstanding over time, e.g. due to partial repayments of a facility, certain recoveries received in respect of a facility and facility amounts written-off by lenders.

      The below table depicts the original drawn aggregate facility value and the number of facilities for each lender, together with the current aggregate value and number of settled facilities for each lender. This is followed by tables and a visual, which breaks down RLS 3 facilities by the following categories: region, SIC group, facility type, company size, facility size, turnover, and age of business.

        Breakdown of facilities drawn and settled

        Lender Name

        Drawn value (£m)

        Number of facilities

        Settled value (£m)

        Settled number of facilities

        ABN AMRO Asset Based Finance N.V.

        6.97

        10

        -

        -

        Aldermore Bank Plc

        6.02

        13

        -

        -

        Allica Bank Limited

        74.45

        342

        -

        -

        Arbuthnot Latham & Co Ltd

        39.49

        29

        -

        -

        Arkle Finance Ltd

        12.48

        113

        -

        -

        ART SHARE Limited

        2.85

        48

        -

        -

        Atom Bank plc

        113.60

        205

        -

        -

        Bank of Scotland plc

        1.36

        5

        -

        -

        Barclays Bank Plc

        28.78

        50

        -

        -

        BCRS Business Loans Ltd

        6.13

        76

        -

        -

        Big Issue Invest Ltd

        0.35

        5

        -

        -

        Business Enterprise Fund

        15.50

        200

        0.03

        1

        Business Lending Group

        11.16

        21

        -

        -

        Capitalise Business Support Ltd

        3.21

        46

        0.13

        3

        Close Brothers Ltd

        187.41

        775

        0.56

        12

        Clydesdale Bank Plc

        8.93

        20

        -

        -

        Compass Business Finance

        22.62

        192

        0.01

        1

        Coventry & Warwickshire Reinvestment Trust Ltd

        2.93

        39

        0.11

        1

        Danske Bank

        5.93

        14

        -

        -

        DSL Business Finance

        0.19

        4

        -

        -

        Enterprise Answers

        1.21

        15

        -

        -

        Enterprise Loans East Midlands

        5.44

        70

        0.03

        1

        EVBL (General Partner NPIF Y&H Debt) Limited

        18.10

        72

        0.09

        1

        Finance for Enterprise

        13.66

        122

        0.14

        2

        FSE Finance East Loan Management (FE LM)

        1.89

        7

        -

        -

        FSE FYI LP

        2.38

        17

        -

        -

        FSE GLIF LD LP

        12.65

        12

        -

        -

        FSE GLIF SD LP

        7.26

        21

        -

        -

        FSE MEIF LP

        18.31

        24

        -

        -

        Funding Circle

        256.18

        3,400

        -

        -

        GC Business Finance

        0.88

        4

        -

        -

        Genesis Asset Finance Ltd

        1.71

        27

        -

        -

        Growth Finance Fund LP (WhiteRock Capital Partners LLP)

        8.40

        13

        -

        -

        Hampshire Trust Bank Plc

        16.20

        66

        -

        -

        Haydock Finance

        10.77

        23

        -

        -

        HSBC UK Bank Plc

        189.28

        697

        0.25

        3

        Investec Bank PLC

        6.56

        28

        -

        -

        Kingsway Finance group

        18.88

        133

        -

        -

        Lloyds Bank Plc

        31.83

        134

        -

        -

        MEIF - ESEM SBL LP

        3.17

        35

        -

        -

        MEIF - Maven East and South East Midlands

        2.61

        8

        -

        -

        MEIF - Maven West Midlands

        3.00

        5

        -

        -

        MEIF - WM SBL LP

        3.75

        58

        -

        -

        Merchant Money Ltd (t/a Momenta Finance)

        3.99

        26

        -

        -

        MSIF

        1.27

        8

        -

        -

        NatWest Group plc

        33.14

        189

        -

        -

        NE Growth (ERDF) General Partner Ltd

        2.06

        9

        0.14

        1

        Newable Business Loans Ltd

        0.30

        1

        -

        -

        North East (ERDF) Small Loan Fund Limited

        1.03

        14

        -

        -

        North West Loans NPIF GP Limited

        18.19

        55

        -

        -

        Novuna

        3.25

        9

        -

        -

        NPIF - NW MF LP

        2.39

        42

        -

        -

        NPIF - YHTV MF LP

        2.70

        44

        -

        -

        Paragon Bank PLC

        7.04

        36

        -

        -

        Robert Owen Community Bank Fund

        0.75

        14

        -

        -

        Santander UK

        1.83

        5

        -

        -

        Shire Leasing plc

        29.90

        334

        0.11

        2

        Simply Asset Finance Operations

        108.25

        765

        0.23

        6

        Skipton Business Finance Ltd

        6.72

        34

        -

        -

        Social Investment Business Foundation

        7.28

        37

        -

        -

        SWIG Finance

        9.74

        85

        0.13

        2

        Tower Leasing Ltd

        10.78

        121

        0.12

        2

        TVC Loans NPIF GP Limited

        18.52

        53

        -

        -

        UK Steel Enterprise Ltd

        0.68

        4

        -

        -

        Grand Total

        1,454.26

        9,083

        2.06

        38

          Drawn facilities by Region

          Region

          Drawn value (£m)

          Number of facilities

          **Number of facilities per 10,000 SMEs

          East Midlands

          114.22

          662

          17.33

          East of England

          134.16

          873

          15.33

          London

          250.14

          1,459

          13.90

          North East

          53.90

          317

          20.26

          North West

          172.00

          1,068

          19.58

          Northern Ireland

          29.34

          102

          8.36

          Scotland

          80.06

          533

          17.87

          South East

          184.93

          1,242

          14.58

          South West

          112.21

          726

          13.85

          Wales

          52.58

          366

          16.71

          West Midlands

          137.78

          876

          19.53

          Yorkshire and The Humber

          126.51

          825

          21.20

          Unspecified*

          6.43

          34

          -

          Notes on Table 

          * This includes Channel Islands, Isle of Man and the facilities where location could not be specifically determined through information provided by lenders.

          **The data for ‘Number of facilities per 10,000 SMEs’ is a calculation utilising data sourced from Business population estimates 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

          Drawn facilities by region

          Number of facilities per 10,000 SME's banding

          • <10

          • 10-14

          • 15-19

          • 20+

            Drawn by Sector

            SIC Group

            Drawn value (£m)

            Number of facilities

            Accommodation and food service activities

            79.04

            581

            Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods-and services-producing activities of households for own use

            0.20

            3

            Administrative and support service activities

            152.29

            902

            Agriculture, forestry and fishing

            23.49

            221

            Arts, entertainment and recreation

            32.62

            219

            Construction

            142.38

            1,043

            Education

            14.36

            141

            Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply

            1.59

            10

            Financial and insurance activities

            42.03

            176

            Human health and social work activities

            58.38

            377

            Information and communication

            65.28

            439

            Manufacturing

            230.61

            1,174

            Mining and quarrying

            9.32

            36

            Other service activities

            29.22

            297

            Professional, scientific and technical activities

            118.20

            751

            Public administration and defence; compulsory social security

            0.92

            6

            Real estate activities

            142.30

            427

            Transportation and storage

            66.98

            585

            Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities

            26.08

            129

            Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles

            218.96

            1,566

            Grand Total

            1,454.26

            9,083

              Drawn by Scheme Facility Type

              Scheme Facility Type

              Drawn value (£m)

              Number of facilities

              Business term loan

              1,055.17

              6,710

              Asset finance

              358.38

              2,197

              Invoice finance

              39.46

              174

              Revolving credit

              1.25

              2

              Grand Total

              1,454.26

              9,083

                Drawn by Company Size

                Company Size (number of employees)

                Drawn value (£m)

                Number of facilities

                Fewer than 10

                647.51

                5,581

                Between 10 and 49

                564.70

                2,811

                Between 50 and 249

                219.43

                648

                More than 250

                22.63

                43

                Grand Total

                1,454.26

                9,083

                  Drawn by Facility Size

                  Facility size (£)

                  Drawn value (£m)

                  Number of facilities

                  Less than 10K

                  0.16

                  26

                  10K to 25K

                  2.72

                  138

                  25,001 to 50K

                  76.99

                  2,173

                  50,001 to 100K

                  193.37

                  2,706

                  100,001 to 250K

                  422.07

                  2,713

                  250,001 to 500K

                  297.98

                  846

                  500,001 to 1m

                  240.75

                  338

                  1m to 5m

                  220.21

                  143

                  Grand Total

                  1,454.26

                  9,083

                    Drawn by Turnover

                    Turnover (£)

                    Drawn value (£m)

                    Number of facilities

                    Less than 50K

                    41.28

                    267

                    50,001 to 100K

                    66.38

                    719

                    100,001 to 250K

                    122.89

                    1,334

                    250,001 to 500K

                    139.11

                    1,371

                    500,001 to 1m

                    207.34

                    1,626

                    1m to 5m

                    495.29

                    2,663

                    5m to 25m

                    335.50

                    1,006

                    25m to 50m

                    46.47

                    97

                    Grand Total

                    1,454.26

                    9,083

                      Drawn by Age of Business

                      Age of Business

                      Drawn value (£m)

                      Number of facilities

                      Less than 1 year

                      110.73

                      488

                      1 to 4 years

                      263.25

                      1,950

                      5 to 9 years

                      357.33

                      2,752

                      10 to 14 years

                      268.80

                      1,664

                      15 to 24 years

                      264.48

                      1,456

                      25 to 49 years

                      153.23

                      622

                      50 years or more

                      36.43

                      151

                      Grand Total

                      1,454.26

                      9,083

                      Suspected fraud

                      Lenders have currently identified 8 RLS 3 facilities with an aggregate drawn value of £2.00m as suspected fraud. This equates to 0.09% of the total number of drawn facilities and 0.14% of the total drawn value. Lenders continue to review cases, and consequently this figure is subject to change. This relies on lenders’ business as usual threshold for fraud reporting. That is, the lender has established sufficient grounds to suspect fraud, which is then reported via the British Business Bank portal.

                      Lenders are not law enforcement agencies or investigatory organisations. Where they have a suspicion that fraud has been committed by a borrower, they will indicate so in the information which they provide to the British Business Bank. Ultimately it is law enforcement/ the courts that determine whether or not a fraud has been committed, and so the statistics presented are only an indicator of the levels of suspected fraud that have been identified within the scheme at a given point in time.

                      Definitions

                      • Definition of values
                        • The value for ‘Claimed’ is the amount claimed under the guarantee
                        • The value for ‘Settled’ is the amount paid out under the guarantee
                        • The value for ‘Fully Repaid’ is the full facility amount
                        • The value for all other life events is the outstanding balance
                      • Arrears - facilities with missed repayments are deemed to be in arrears and are tracked in 30, 60 and 90 day cohorts by lenders to manage risk. Lenders report monthly arrears updates through the Scheme portal on a “best endeavours” basis. Some lenders submit arrears via the automated (API) functionality in the Scheme portal, but it is not always possible for smaller lenders to integrate with this functionality so arrears are sometimes entered manually. Facilities in arrears that have moved to a later life-cycle stage (such as Defaulted) will be reported in the later life-cycle stage but may still carry arrears. At the time of this event occurring, this is an actual balance, and not estimated.
                      • Claimed - the Lender has submitted a claim under the guarantee. Facilities sit in the claimed status while the British Business Bank awaits/processes the invoice for the claim and runs relevant checks. Under the terms of the guarantee the claim must be paid within 30 days of receipt of the claims invoice.
                      • Defaulted - facilities where the lender has issued a formal demand to the borrower. At the time of this event occurring, this is an actual balance, and not estimated.
                      • Drawn value - the total amount for facilities which have been drawn down by the borrower.
                      • Facility or facilities - refers to a Recovery Loan Scheme (third iteration) facility or facilities, being either a term loan facility, a revolving credit facility, an invoice finance facility or an asset finance facility (as applicable) made available by an accredited lender to a borrower.
                      • Fully repaid - the facility is considered closed as there is no further outstanding balance on the facility (the borrower has repaid the full amount).
                      • On schedule - the facility is being repaid as expected, including facilities for which repayment is not yet due.
                      • Outstanding balance - when used to describe facilities on schedule, this is the remaining principal balance of the facilities. This figure is provided by lenders on a monthly basis until a facility defaults or is fully repaid.
                      • Scheme portal - the database hosted by the Bank as part of its role in administering the schemes. It is used by all accredited scheme lenders to report on guaranteed facilities and make claims under the guarantee agreement. The reporting requirements have evolved over time. The portal is updated at various points in a facility lifecycle as reported by lenders.
                      • Settled - settlement has been made following a lender making a claim. Once the guarantee claim is processed and payment is released, the facility is marked as settled on the Scheme portal.
                      • Turnover - estimated annual turnover of the borrower, inputted by the lender.

                      Limitations and further considerations

                      The following should be considered in relation to the data:

                      • Data is as at 30 June 2024, and extracted on the 15 July 2024, from the information continuously submitted to the British Business Bank’s portal by accredited lenders. The portal is used by the British Business Bank and lenders to administer the facilities. Portal data is dependent on lenders submitting accurate and timely data and is not real-time.
                      • The terms of and the timing of the scheme may not be representative of the lenders’ risk appetites, their general loan credit quality, or their default experience.
                      • Given the size of the scheme, the numbers of facilities, and the period over which they are being offered and drawn down, data being collected remains fluid and subject to refinement and correction over time (comparative analysis may therefore have limitations).
                      • The timing and level of claims made on the guarantee will vary according to a lender’s business model and the characteristics of their customers (for example repayment options offered, age of businesses, whether new or existing customers).
                      • Some lenders may be more advanced than others in operationalising their Claims and Recoveries processes which could lead to figures being distorted initially but this will stabilise over time.
                      • Lenders may submit guarantee claims monthly or quarterly in line with the terms of the guarantee.
                      • Claims on the guarantee may subsequently benefit from recovery receipts achieved at a later date (which are not reflected in the figures above), and so are not a conclusive indicator of net cost to government.
                      • All data excludes facilities where a scheme guarantee has been removed and the facility is no longer covered by the scheme.

                      This data is not suitable to be relied on by any party wishing to acquire rights against the British Business Bank group of companies (“BBB”) or any of the Recovery Loan Scheme (third iteration) guarantee scheme lenders for any purpose or in any context. Any party choosing to rely on the data detailed in this release (or any part of it) does so at its own risk. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the British Business Bank does not assume any responsibility or liability to any other party in respect of this data.

                      Notes

                      This third iteration of the Recovery Loan Scheme no longer accepted applications after 30 June 2024. As stated above, it was announced in the 2024 Spring Budget that the scheme would be renamed the Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS) and extended for a further two years until 31 March 2026. GGS is open to new applications through participating lenders, who are listed on the British Business Bank website.

                      Further information, for businesses and lenders, is available on the British Business Bank website.