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British Business Bank agrees second portfolio increase of £100m to ENABLE Guarantee facility with specialist commercial lender DF Capital

Press release 15 July 2024

This is the second portfolio increase with DF Capital, with an additional £100m agreed. The total facility size now stands at £350m, doubling the British Business Bank’s initial commitment.

The British Business Bank has agreed a second portfolio increase of £100m to specialist commercial lender DF Capital’s existing ENABLE Guarantee facility.

This transaction builds on the £250m which was agreed through the first facility increase announced in August 2023. The total facility now stands at £350m, doubling the initial commitment of £175m agreed in January 2023.

The guarantee has helped DF Capital unlock additional levels of growth that would have been difficult to achieve otherwise and the size of the guarantee will allow DF Capital to continue to grow its own book organically in the future.

DF Capital was the first lender to utilise the ENABLE Guarantee programme to support inventory finance. This specialist form of lending is critical to supply chains, supports the availability of working capital and improves cashflow across product distribution cycles.

As of May 2024, DF Capital have used the ENABLE Guarantee to support over £794m of finance to dealer businesses, with almost 97% of this being outside London.

DF Capital received its banking licence in September 2020. One of the objectives of the British Business Bank is to increase the diversity of supply and type of finance available to smaller businesses. In supporting new market entrants in this way, the Bank can help rapidly build the number of businesses supported and provide more choice across the market.

This second facility increase of DF Capital’s ENABLE Guarantee is testament to our commitment to the role specialist banks play in financing smaller businesses. DF Capital’s continued expansion demonstrates both the power of the guarantee to grow lenders in the small business space, as well as it being an attractive alternative to raising equity capital. - Michael Strevens Head of Structured Guarantees, British Business Bank
British Business Bank’s continued support by upsizing the ENABLE Guarantee helps unlock our near-term growth ambitions and our aim to assist more SME dealers and manufacturers as we look to further scale the bank and become a multi-product lender. - Carl D'Ammassa Chief Executive, DF Capital

Further Information

If you are a journalist and have a media enquiry, please contact mediaenquiries@british-business-bank.co.uk.

Notes to editors

About DF Capital

DF Capital is a trading name of DF Capital Bank Limited, a subsidiary of Distribution Finance Capital Holdings plc. It is a specialist bank providing both award-winning inventory finance solutions to dealer and manufacturing businesses across the UK, and personal savings products to retail customers.

With its headquarters in Manchester, the bank now employs over 100 people. It has provided over £3.5bn of funding across a variety of leisure and commercial sectors, including motorhome & caravan; lodges & holiday homes; specialist/prestige cars, motorcycles/all-terrain vehicles; marine; agriculture; industrial and transport.

The bank is a Living Wage Employer and, in January 2024 it was awarded a 3-star accreditation – reflecting ‘world-class’ levels of workplace engagement - by Best Companies. The bank was also awarded the Platinum Trusted Service Award from Feefo at the beginning of 2024 for its savings offering and holds the Feefo Exceptional Service badge – with customer satisfaction currently standing at 4.8 out of 5 stars.

For more information www.dfcapital.bank

About the British Business Bank

The British Business Bank is the UK government’s economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to drive sustainable growth and prosperity across the UK and to enable the transition to a net zero economy, by improving access to finance for smaller businesses. Its remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller business access to finance programmes for the UK government.

The British Business Bank’s core programmes support over £12.4bn 1  of finance to more than 90,000 smaller businesses 2 .

As well as increasing the supply and diversity of finance for UK smaller businesses through its programmes, the Bank works to raise awareness of finance options available to smaller businesses. The British Business Bank Finance Hub provides independent and impartial information to businesses about finance options, featuring short films, expert guides, checklists and articles from finance providers to help make their application a success.

The British Business Bank is also responsible for administering the government’s three Coronavirus loan schemes and its Future Fund, together responsible for delivering £80.4bn in finance to 1.67m businesses. These schemes are now closed to new applications.

British Business Bank plc is a public limited company registered in England and Wales, registration number 08616013, registered office at Steel City House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 2GQ. Wholly owned by HM government, the Bank and its subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. They are not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). A complete legal structure chart for the group can be found at www.british-business-bank.co.uk.

The transaction described above does not constitute or imply any endorsement, warranty or recommendation by the UK government, the British Business Bank plc, its subsidiaries or any other party of DF Capital or its products or services.

The ENABLE Guarantee Scheme is managed by British Business Financial Services Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of British Business Bank plc, on behalf of, and with the financial backing of, the Secretary of State for the Department of Business and Trade for ENABLE Guarantee.

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