New data published today by the British Business Bank shows that businesses across Northern Ireland received over £2bn in funding under the government’s two largest Covid-19 loan schemes, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS). The schemes provided financial support to businesses across the UK impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak, closing for applicants at the end of March 2021.
- Over 42,000 loans worth nearly £1.3bn have been provided across Northern Ireland under the Bounce Bank Loan Scheme, which provided a six-year term loan from £2,000 up to 25% of a business’ turnover, with a limit of £50,000.
- Over 2,400 loans worth nearly £0.8bn have been provided across Northern Ireland under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, which provided Business loans, overdrafts, invoice finance & asset finance of up to £5m to businesses with a turnover less than £45m.
Total funding from the schemes provided to nearly 44,500 businesses represents 3% of the UK total, broadly in line with the relative size of Northern Ireland’s business population (2%).
Mark Sterritt, UK Network Director, Northern Ireland at British Business Bank said: “The Covid-19 loan schemes have been an important part of the government’s response to the pandemic, providing businesses with much-needed breathing space and reducing cash-flow concerns for many. We’re pleased to see evidence that they have helped smaller businesses right across Northern Ireland and look forward to helping more businesses to prosper and grow as we look towards economic recovery.”
Belfast and Newtownards case study
Although tyre retailers Kerr’s Tyres continued to service hauliers and delivery companies throughout the disruption caused by Covid-19, it lacked the working capital to sustain itself for any real length of time. Under such financial pressure, it applied for a CBILS loan for support.
Norman Kerr, managing director of Kerr’s Tyres said: “Before coronavirus, we’d put all our cash reserves towards building a new HQ. Once the outbreak hit, not getting that financial support from CBILS means our cashflow would’ve dried up and there’s a possibility we’d have had to close.”
Breakdown of loans offered by region/devolved nation – BBLS
| Region/Devolved Nation | Value of Loans Offered (£) | Number of Loans Offered | Proportion of Offered Facilities | Proportion of UK Business Population |
| East Midlands | 2,894,632,656 | 98,670 | 6% | 7% |
| East of England | 4,529,815,087 | 149,267 | 10% | 10% |
| London | 10,789,608,981 | 320,765 | 21% | 19% |
| North East | 1,341,695,001 | 48,262 | 3% | 3% |
| North West | 4,840,708,102 | 163,813 | 11% | 9% |
| Northern Ireland | 1,281,693,938 | 42,133 | 3% | 2% |
| Scotland | 2,711,960,401 | 93,865 | 6% | 6% |
| South East | 6,518,116,797 | 216,676 | 14% | 16% |
| South West | 3,554,828,669 | 126,496 | 8% | 9% |
| Wales | 1,648,042,395 | 59,608 | 4% | 3% |
| West Midlands | 3,796,501,647 | 124,011 | 8% | 8% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 3,211,734,914 | 109,156 | 7% | 7% |
| Unspecified | 63,748,279 | 2,042 | 0% | 0% |
Breakdown of facilities offered by region – CBILS
| Region/Devolved Nation | Value of Loans Offered (£) | Number of Loans Offered | Proportion of Offered Facilities | Proportion of UK Business Population |
| East Midlands | 1,793,811,546 | 7,325 | 7% | 7% |
| East of England | 2,512,442,752 | 10,431 | 10% | 10% |
| London | 5,517,195,172 | 16,582 | 17% | 19% |
| North East | 694,592,700 | 2,919 | 3% | 3% |
| North West | 2,738,411,003 | 10,696 | 11% | 9% |
| Northern Ireland | 784,751,771 | 2,440 | 2% | 2% |
| Scotland | 1,425,477,706 | 5,927 | 6% | 6% |
| South East | 3,855,543,025 | 15,125 | 15% | 16% |
| South West | 2,063,373,529 | 8,649 | 9% | 9% |
| Wales | 712,911,765 | 3,212 | 3% | 3% |
| West Midlands | 2,056,434,006 | 8,413 | 8% | 8% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 1,803,458,437 | 7,669 | 8% | 7% |
| Unspecified | 121,669,133 | 307 | 0% | 0% |
Breakdown of facilities offered by sector – CBILS
| SIC Group Description | Value of Loans Offered (£) | Number of Loans Offered | Proportion of Offered Facilities | Proportion of UK Business Population |
| Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing | 195,838,375 | 1,017 | 1% | 2.6% |
| Mining and Quarrying; Electricity, Gas and Air Conditioning Supply; Water Supply; Sewerage, Waste Management and Remediation Activities | 437,234,410 | 1,910 | 2% | 0.7% |
| Manufacturing | 3,590,742,492 | 13,622 | 14% | 4.8% |
| Construction | 4,000,950,460 | 14,688 | 15% | 16.6% |
| Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles | 4,137,852,068 | 16,761 | 17% | 9.2% |
| Transportation and Storage | 1,093,863,125 | 5,416 | 5% | 5.8% |
| Accommodation and Food Service Activities | 1,940,456,114 | 6,472 | 6% | 3.7% |
| Information and Communication | 1,124,034,994 | 4,334 | 4% | 6.4% |
| Financial and Insurance Activities | 674,199,199 | 1,463 | 1% | 1.5% |
| Real Estate Activities | 1,226,814,433 | 2,254 | 2% | 2.1% |
| Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities | 2,402,718,979 | 9,683 | 10% | 14.6% |
| Administrative and Support Service Activities | 2,716,524,071 | 11,910 | 12% | 8.8% |
| Education | 433,739,905 | 1,293 | 1% | 5.4% |
| Human Health and Social Work Activities | 876,525,620 | 3,916 | 4% | 6.4% |
| Arts, Entertainment and Recreation | 711,896,841 | 2,418 | 2% | 5.2% |
| Other Service Activities | 487,851,521 | 2,464 | 2% | 6.1% |
| Unspecified | 28,829,940 | 74 | 0% | 0.0% |
Breakdown of facilities offered by sector – BBLS
| SIC Group Description | Value of Loans Offered (£) | Number of Loans Offered | Proportion of Offered Facilities | Proportion of UK Business Population |
| Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing | 1,474,477,665 | 45,875 | 3% | 2.6% |
| Mining and Quarrying; Electricity, Gas and Air Conditioning Supply; Water Supply; Sewerage, Waste Management and Remediation Activities | 368,339,204 | 11,431 | 1% | 0.7% |
| Manufacturing | 2,841,461,426 | 89,368 | 6% | 4.8% |
| Construction | 7,684,762,143 | 260,912 | 17% | 16.6% |
| Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles | 8,234,342,759 | 231,055 | 15% | 9.2% |
| Transportation and Storage | 2,280,611,009 | 86,060 | 6% | 5.8% |
| Accommodation and Food Service Activities | 4,276,463,494 | 119,401 | 8% | 3.7% |
| Information and Communication | 2,121,404,486 | 71,504 | 5% | 6.4% |
| Financial and Insurance Activities | 421,094,101 | 12,571 | 1% | 1.5% |
| Real Estate Activities | 3,238,644,323 | 91,421 | 6% | 2.1% |
| Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities | 4,874,562,882 | 172,513 | 11% | 14.6% |
| Administrative and Support Service Activities | 3,269,345,759 | 111,940 | 7% | 8.8% |
| Education | 788,508,857 | 34,220 | 2% | 5.4% |
| Human Health and Social Work Activities | 1,881,659,889 | 63,628 | 4% | 6.4% |
| Arts, Entertainment and Recreation | 1,030,041,420 | 41,482 | 3% | 5.2% |
| Other Service Activities | 2,333,709,344 | 108,695 | 7% | 6.1% |
| Unspecified | 63,658,105 | 2,688 | 0% | 0.0% |
Notes
- Regional and sectoral Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Scheme data has not been included in this analysis due to data protection and commercial considerations. Regional and sectoral breakdown data on CBILS and BBLS schemes drawn from the British Business Bank loans portal, 2 July 2021.
- Breakdowns by constituency, sector SIC code, county/district and LEP area are available for download from the British Business Bank website.
- Offered figures published by the British Business Bank may differ from aggregate approved figures published by HM Treasury due to a time lag between the two data sources.
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 make finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, enabling those businesses to prosper, grow and build UK economic activity. 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 main programmes were supporting nearly £8bn of finance to almost 94,800 smaller businesses at end of June 2020. Since March 2020, the British Business Bank has also launched four new Coronavirus business loan schemes, delivering more than £69bn of finance to 1.5m businesses.
As well as increasing both supply and diversity of finance for UK smaller businesses through its programmes, the Bank works to raise awareness of the finance options available to smaller businesses:
The Business Finance Guide (published in partnership with the ICAEW and a further 21 business and finance organisations) impartially sets out the range of finance options available to businesses at all stages – from start-ups to SMEs and growing mid-sized companies. Businesses can take the interactive journey at https://thebusinessfinanceguide.co.uk/
- The British Business Bank Finance Hub provides independent and impartial information to high-growth businesses about their finance options, featuring short films, expert guides, checklists and articles from finance providers to help make their application a success. The site also features case studies and lessons from real businesses to guide businesses through the process of applying for growth finance.
As the holding company of the group operating under the trading name of British Business Bank, British Business Bank plc is wholly owned by HM Government and is not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The British Business Bank operates through a number of subsidiaries, none of which are authorised or regulated by the FCA or the PRA.
British Business Bank plc and its principal operating subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. A complete legal structure chart for British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries can be found on the British Business Bank plc website.
