Recovery Loan Scheme (iterations 1 & 2) Performance Data as at 31 December 2023

20 February 2024

The British Business Bank launched the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) in April 2021, to support access to finance and growth for UK businesses as they steered a path towards a sustainable recovery following the Covid pandemic. This first iteration of the scheme was originally scheduled to run until 31 December 2021.

In the 2021 Autumn Budget the scheme was extended by six months to 30 June 2022, resulting in the second iteration of the RLS. At that time some adjustments to the scheme’s terms were made: the government had provided a guarantee to accredited lenders of 80% for scheme facilities offered before 1 January 2022, reduced to 70% for scheme facilities offered on or after that date. The borrower remains 100% liable for the debt.

RLS iterations 1 & 2 were closed to new applications on 30 June 2022.

A new RLS scheme was announced by the government and opened for applications on 1 August 2022. This third iteration supports British Business Bank’s ongoing commitment to promote sustainable, accessible funding for UK smaller businesses, and enable them to invest and grow. Further details on the Recovery Loan Scheme are available on the British Business Bank website. Data for this iteration of RLS is not included in this publication.

    Performance

    Since the launch of RLS, the British Business Bank has regularly published quarterly performance data (for iterations 1 & 2), with a commitment to continue publishing performance data on a quarterly basis.

    This publication provides data as at 31 December 2023 for the RLS (iterations 1 & 2). As with previous publications, the data relies on information submitted to the British Business Bank’s guarantee portal by accredited lenders.

    RLS (iterations 1 & 2) Data

    As at 31 December 2023, businesses had drawn 20,081 facilities, totalling £4.33 billion, through the RLS.

    75.09% of RLS facilities (by number of drawn facilities) are on schedule, and 7.73% of scheme facilities are fully repaid. 3.12% are currently in arrears (but not yet progressed to default), and 2.23% are currently in default (but have not yet progressed to a claim by lenders).

    To date lender claims of £166.01 million have been settled by British Business Bank against the government guarantee. This equates to 3.83% of the total drawn value or 9.63% of the total number of drawn facilities.

    It remains important to recognise that while RLS iterations 1 & 2 were closed to new applications on 30 June 2022, data being collected from scheme lenders is subject to refinement, addition, and correction over time, and should not be regarded as definitive nor conclusive as to the performance of the scheme. Please see Limitations and further considerations (below) for further background.

    Suspected fraud

    Lenders have currently identified 106 RLS facilities with an aggregate drawn value of £34.75m as suspected fraud. This equates to 0.53% of the total number of drawn facilities and 0.80% 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.

    Detailed facility status

    Table 1 shows outstanding number of facilities and values as at 31 December 2023.

    See Definitions below when interpreting these tables.

    Table 1: RLS-Summary Facility Status

    Life event

    No. of facilities

    % of facilities

    Outstanding Balance (£m)

    Final Amounts (£m)

    On Schedule

    15,079

    75.09%

    2,471.46

    -

    Arrears

    626

    3.12%

    69.95

    -

    Defaulted

    448

    2.23%

    77.72

    -

    Claimed

    443

    2.21%

    38.92

    -

    Settled

    1,933

    9.63%

    -

    166.01

    Fully Repaid

    1,552

    7.73%

    -

    561.02

    Grand Total

    20,081

    100%

    2,657.93

    727.03

    Note on Table 1

    The aggregate total of Outstanding Balances and Final Values in Table 1 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 following tables show the original drawn aggregate facility value and the number of facilities for each lender, by region, by SIC group and by facility type, together with the current aggregate value and number of settled facilities for each lender.

    Table 2: RLS-Breakdown of facilities drawn and settled

    Lender Name

    Drawn value (£m)

    No. of facilities

    Settled Value (£m)**

    Settled no. Of facilities

    ABN AMRO Asset Based Finance N.V.

    5.61

    8

    -

    -

    AIB Group (UK) Plc

    3.55

    4

    0.11

    1

    Aldermore Bank Plc

    62.17

    240

    0.56

    5

    Allica Bank Limited

    2.11

    2

    -

    -

    Arbuthnot Latham & Co Ltd

    192.84

    84

    0.35

    1

    Arkle Finance Ltd

    9.48

    101

    0.46

    7

    ART SHARE Limited

    2.51

    42

    0.18

    4

    Assetz Capital Lending Limited

    42.42

    14

    5.54

    2

    Atom Bank plc

    132.69

    180

    -

    -

    Bank of Scotland plc

    6.48

    42

    0.19

    1

    Barclays Bank Plc

    52.66

    183

    0.64

    4

    BCRS Business Loans Ltd

    3.94

    64

    0.13

    4

    Big Issue Invest Ltd

    0.30

    2

    -

    -

    Business Enterprise Fund

    9.26

    131

    0.67

    14

    Business Lending Group

    24.30

    12

    -

    -

    Capitalise Business Support Ltd

    1.88

    24

    0.11

    2

    Close Brothers Ltd

    203.42

    595

    1.10

    19

    Clydesdale Bank Plc

    48.97

    70

    2.74

    3

    Compass Business Finance

    4.60

    64

    0.35

    4

    Conister Finance & Leasing Ltd

    32.33

    204

    1.32

    17

    Coventry & Warwickshire Reinvestment Trust Ltd

    1.81

    23

    -

    -

    Cynergy Bank Ltd

    59.94

    29

    -

    -

    Danske Bank

    2.90

    5

    -

    -

    DSL Business Finance

    0.64

    10

    0.11

    2

    Ebury Partners UK Ltd

    0.45

    2

    -

    -

    Edinburgh Alternative Finance Limited T/A Lending Crowd

    14.97

    96

    0.20

    2

    Enterprise Answers

    0.28

    3

    0.17

    2

    Enterprise Loans East Midlands

    2.78

    38

    0.21

    4

    EVBL (General Partner NPIF Y&H Debt) Limited

    11.66

    51

    0.23

    2

    Fiduciam Nominees Limited

    4.87

    1

    -

    -

    Finance for Enterprise

    7.07

    76

    0.37

    8

    FSE GLIF LD LP

    14.19

    18

    -

    -

    FSE GLIF SD LP

    6.34

    24

    0.11

    1

    FSE MEIF LP

    10.15

    28

    0.66

    2

    Funding Circle

    899.45

    9104

    78.21

    1205

    GC Business Finance

    0.97

    14

    -

    -

    Genesis Asset Finance Ltd

    0.90

    16

    0.01

    2

    Growth Finance Fund LP (WhiteRock Capital Partners LLP)

    3.50

    5

    -

    -

    Growth Lending Group Ltd

    168.20

    44

    6.40

    1

    Hampshire Trust Bank Plc

    67.94

    57

    1.85

    6

    Haydock Finance

    17.49

    78

    1.60

    11

    HSBC UK Bank Plc

    562.05

    2323

    14.31

    184

    Independent Growth Finance Ltd

    9.54

    19

    0.14

    1

    InterBay Asset Finance Limited

    5.55

    30

    -

    -

    Investec Bank PLC

    68.77

    236

    2.30

    7

    Iwoca Limited

    30.96

    119

    0.99

    7

    Kingsway Finance group

    22.25

    195

    1.24

    19

    Kriya Finance (Formerly MarketFinance)

    104.21

    622

    2.12

    21

    Lendnet LLP

    16.22

    14

    -

    -

    Leumi UK Group Ltd

    32.34

    16

    -

    -

    Lloyds Bank Plc

    59.67

    259

    0.26

    2

    MEIF - ESEM SBL LP

    2.98

    38

    0.22

    4

    MEIF - Maven East and South East Midlands

    12.31

    32

    -

    -

    MEIF - Maven West Midlands

    12.37

     

    28

    -

    -

    MEIF - WM SBL LP

    2.12

    39

    0.05

    1

    Merchant Money Ltd (t/a Momenta Finance)

    24.25

    137

    1.43

    14

     

    Metro Bank PLC

    333.73

    181

    0.46

    2

    NatWest Group plc

    111.12

    951

    6.51

    87

    NE Growth (ERDF) General Partner Ltd

    3.54

    18

    0.68

    5

    Newable Business Loans Ltd

    3.99

    27

    0.58

    5

    North East (ERDF) Small Loan Fund Limited

    0.92

    13

    0.06

    1

    North West Loans NPIF GP Limited

    13.41

    45

    0.17

    1

    Novuna

    39.76

    77

    1.77

    6

    NPIF - NW MF LP

    1.74

    29

    0.04

    1

    NPIF - YHTV MF LP

    1.55

    28

    0.21

    5

    Nucleus Cashflow Finance Ltd

    141.66

    780

    19.25

    141

    OakNorth Bank plc

    9.62

    6

    -

    -

    Paragon Bank PLC

    52.04

    313

    0.35

    6

    RM Funds

    4.51

    4

    -

    -

    Robert Owen Community Bank Fund

    0.05

    2

    -

    -

    Santander UK

    56.05

    22

    -

    -

    Scania Finance Great Britain Limited

    4.07

    21

    -

    -

    Secure Trust Bank plc

    16.45

    7

    3.20

    1

    Shawbrook Bank Limited

    10.15

    11

    1.01

    3

    Shire Leasing plc

    12.88

    193

    0.67

    19

    Simply Asset Finance Operations

    75.48

    676

    0.96

    26

    Skipton Business Finance Ltd

    2.84

    24

    -

    -

    Social Investment Business Foundation

    4.82

    16

    -

    -

    Starling Bank Ltd

    22.82

    186

    0.80

    11

    SWIG Finance

    6.70

    69

    -

    -

    ThinCats Ltd

    134.59

    69

    0.49

    1

    Time Finance plc

    4.58

    64

    -

    -

    Tower Leasing Ltd

    8.63

    202

    0.22

    11

    Triodos Bank UK Ltd

    10.60

    9

    -

    -

    TVC Loans NPIF GP Limited

    5.74

    21

    0.93

    5

    UK Steel Enterprise Ltd

    1.26

    6

    -

    -

    United Trust Bank Limited

    135.45

    116

    -

    -

    Grand Total

    4,334.28

    20,081

    166.01

    1,933

    **Settled – once the guarantee claim is processed and payment is released, the facility is marked as settled on the British Business Bank portal. Some lenders may be more advanced than others in their Claims and Recoveries processes which could lead to timing differences in the figures

    Table 3: RLS-Drawn by Region/Nation

    Region

    Drawn value (£m)

    No. of facilities

    East Midlands

    306.09

    1,498

    East of England

    410.52

    2,035

    London

    1,040.35

    3,568

    North East

    109.70

    623

    North West

    442.60

    2,115

    Northern Ireland

    61.87

    333

    Scotland

    224.45

    1,120

    South East

    577.17

    3,024

    South West

    294.88

    1,635

    Wales

    136.17

    670

    West Midlands

    333.95

    1,840

    Yorkshire and The Humber

    341.66

    1,559

    Unspecified*

    54.87

    61

    Grand Total

    4,334.28

    20,081

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

    Table 4: RLS-Drawn by Sector

    Sector

    Drawn value (£m)

    No. of facilities

    Accommodation and food service activities

    318.50

    1,195

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

    0.11

    2

    Administrative and support service activities

    365.50

    1,892

    Agriculture, forestry and fishing

    23.39

    223

    Arts, entertainment and recreation

    73.71

    390

    Construction

    653.10

    2,968

    Education

    35.24

    283

    Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply

    5.62

    47

    Financial and insurance activities

    191.74

    348

    Human health and social work activities

    213.44

    785

    Information and communication

    228.65

    1,166

    Manufacturing

    523.26

    2,494

    Mining and Quarrying

    5.41

    28

    Other service activities

    68.15

    604

    Professional, scientific and technical activities

    331.62

    1,914

    Public administration and defence; compulsory social security

    3.09

    19

    Real Estate Activities

    354.94

    535

    Transportation and Storage Activities

    179.85

    1,012

    Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities

    50.66

    227

    Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles

    708.31

    3,949

    Grand Total

    4,334.28

    20,081

    Table 5: RLS-Drawn by Scheme Facility Type

    Facility Type

    Drawn value (£m)

    No. of facilities

    Business term

    3,813.52

    17,505

    Asset finance

    397.21

    2,384

    Invoice finance

    90.60

    170

    Revolving credit

    32.95

    22

    Grand Total

    4,334.28

    20,081

    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 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 on schedule is a projected figure based on the amortisation profile of individual facilities. It uses existing data points to identify the remaining facility value but is limited due to some lender data not being available.
    • 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.
    • Suspected fraud - drawn facilities which are currently flagged as suspected fraud by lenders. This flag can be added or removed by lenders at any point, and only the latest position can be provided. Suspected fraud value is a subset of the drawn value.

    Limitations and further considerations

    The following should be considered in relation to the data:

    • Data is as at 31 December 2023, and extracted on the 16 January 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 were 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 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 loans 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 RLS 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:

    On 1 August 2022 the British Business Bank released details of a third iteration of the Recovery Loan Scheme.

    This latest iteration of the Recovery Loan Scheme continues to be available through participating lenders, who are listed on the British Business Bank website. The bank re-opened the scheme in February 2023 for other lenders to apply for accreditation.

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