From 3 months to 10 years for term loans and asset finance, and up to 3 years for revolving credit facilities and invoice finance
Interest rate of loan varies, plus 2% fee to the government
As fast as a standard business loan
To fund future growth or expansion
Businesses with a track record but insufficient security to get a loan (i.e. not startups)
The Enterprise Finance Guarantee is one of the UK government’s flagship business loan programmes, designed to support lending (up to £1.2m) to businesses that would otherwise be turned down for finance because they have insufficient security to meet a lender’s normal requirements. The programme provides lenders with a government-backed, partial guarantee – this can in theory turn a lender’s ‘no’ credit decision to a ‘yes’.
The government’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) programme is designed for businesses that have a good track record but not enough security to get a loan – it’s not meant for startups. The government-owned British Business Bank administrates the programme.
You can apply for an EFG loan via any of the British Business Bank’s commercial partners, which include high street banks, challenger banks and independent lenders. Under the programme, the government guarantees to take up to 75% of the lender’s net (post-recovery) loss if your business defaults on payments. This means the lender is exposed to only part of the risk so, in theory, is more likely to lend to you.
Any lender (or finance provider) will still go through a due diligence process with you before they give you a loan, but the EFG programme effectively widens the eligibility criteria to help more businesses get finance.
You pay interest and fees to the lender as you would with any loan. You also pay a quarterly fee to the government. An EFG loan can be more expensive than other business loans, but it might make the difference between getting the finance and not.
EFG supports a wide range of loans, including:
You might be eligible for EFG support if you:
You’ll find more information about Enterprise Finance Guarantee on the British Business Bank’s website.
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