Select audience

Choose the option that best describes your role.

Search British Business Bank
Popular Search placeholder

Midlands-based ART Business Loans announced as the fourth accredited delivery partner under the British Business Bank’s Community ENABLE Funding programme

Press release 12 January 2026

  • Aston-based ART Business Loans will provide up to £7m of lending to Midlands-based smaller businesses
  • Since 2017, 54% of ART’s lending has been in the 35% most deprived areas of England.

The British Business Bank today announces West Midlands-based ART Business Loans as the fourth accredited delivery partner under its Community ENABLE Funding programme. 

ART will be allocated up to £7m under the programme to provide loans above £25k, unlocking capital for underserved smaller businesses across the West Midlands, providing jobs, growth, and opportunity.

The borrowers provided with these loans are expected to include businesses located in disadvantaged areas, those who have less awareness of the finance options available to them, or businesses declined by traditional finance routes, such as high street banks.

In addition, the programme seeks to target underrepresented groups, such as female and ethnic minority led businesses, raising the diversity of businesses in those areas and improving the local small business ecosystem. 

The programme works by increasing the availability of funding to social impact SME-lenders, and in turn the smaller businesses they serve in local communities. It is aimed at Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), and will provide a significant boost to the sector, supporting up to £150m of lending over its first two years.

CDFIs are regional, social impact SME-lenders that provide debt finance and support to underserved smaller businesses, which may find it difficult to access finance from mainstream lenders. One of the key objectives of the programme is to help develop the whole sector, so many more such businesses can access the finance they need.

CDFIs typically have strong, local knowledge of the smaller businesses they support and the communities they reside in. As such, they are well placed to provide the right finance which can unlock the potential in those communities. Through this knowledge, they can help remove barriers to accessing finance experienced by businesses in their area, in this case the West Midlands.

Founded in 1997, ART helps ‘alleviate poverty through enterprise’ by lending to businesses unable to access the finance they need from mainstream finance providers.

Originally set up in Aston, ART (Aston Reinvestment Trust) was one of the first CDFIs created in the UK and has lent over £37m to more than 1,800 customers, enabling them to create or protect more than 8,500 jobs.

Since 2017, 54% of ART’s lending has been in the 35% most deprived areas of England.

Blair McDougall, Minister for Small Business and Economic Transformation, said: 

Small businesses are the engine of our economy, but too often they lack the finance they need to reach their full potential.

This is particularly the case for those in disadvantaged areas, which is why we’re supporting the growth of organisations like ART that lend to underserved smaller firms. This helps in creating jobs, opportunities, and growth for the local economies in areas like the West Midlands.

Reinald de Monchy, Chief Banking Officer, British Business Bank said:

We are delighted to welcome ART Business Loans as the fourth accredited lender under the Community ENABLE Funding programme. Having a CDFI with the established heritage that ART have in the West Midlands on board is great news for the Bank and the CDFI sector. We look forward to seeing the impact they will have on smaller businesses across the region.

Steve Walker, Chief Executive, ART Business Loans said:

ART is proud to be the fourth CDFI lender in the UK to be accredited under the Community ENABLE Funding programme. This accreditation strengthens our ability to increase our levels of support to businesses, giving them access to the finance they need to grow, create jobs, and build resilience.

Over 75% of the businesses we have helped are from underserved areas and communities, and this aligns closely with the British Business Bank’s wider mission to improve access to finance for underserved entrepreneurs across the UK.

Further Information

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

Notes to editors

The British Business Bank’s Community ENABLE Funding programme will be rolled out in two phases. In this first phase, the Department for Business and Trade will provide 100% of the programme’s funding via the British Business Bank, which will enable CDFIs to make more finance available to smaller businesses. 

In the second phase, the British Business Bank will source additional funding from private sector investors, leveraging the government-backed funding to increase the amount of wholesale finance available under the programme.

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 £23bn 1  of finance to almost 64,000 2  smaller businesses.

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. It is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government. British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. With the exception of BBB Investment Services Limited they are not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority or the Financial Conduct Authority. BBB Investment Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. A complete legal structure chart for the group can be found at british-business-bank.co.uk. 

The accreditation 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 ART Business Loans or its products or services.

About ART Business Loans

Since its launch in 1997, ART Business Loans (ART) provide an additional source of appropriate loan finance to businesses in the Midlands and adjoining counties where other funders have been unable to meet the full requirements of the borrower. 

Originally serving inner city Birmingham, ART has pioneered social investment through a model that includes raising funds from individuals, companies, and the public sector. It has successfully borrowed to on lend capital from Charitable foundations, Birmingham City Council and Unity Trust Bank and in 2022 from Block Inc a large US Tech group of companies. In the last 10 years ART has lent over £25m supporting 600 businesses that have had difficulty in raising finance elsewhere creating or preserving over 4,000 jobs.

ART lends between £10,000 and £250,000 to businesses that can exhibit a viable proposition covering Cheshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire. Warwickshire, West Midlands, Staffordshire, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire Oxfordshire, and Gloucestershire either alone or in partnership with other funders.

ART Business Loans is a Community Development Finance Institution (CDFI) and a member of Responsible Finance. ART Business Loans and Aston Reinvestment Trust are the trading names of ART SHARE (Social Help Association for Reinvesting in enterprise) Limited, a Community Benefit Society registered number 28537R.

Quick links

Latest news