Success Stories

When Beth Heath used a Bounce Back Loan to protect her business in Shropshire, the loan not only boosted the cashflow of her award-winning festival company, but also gave her an opportunity to support her local community during lockdown.

DBI Supporting underrepresented minority ethnic groups during the pandemic

Specialising both as a wholesaler and retailer of mobility and independent living aids, Mobility 2 You found many of the retailers which it supplies affected by COVID-19, affecting its supply chain. The business benefitted from a Bounce Back Loan Scheme to invest in technology to help it pivot to keep it’s products going to market.

Aiming to provide its customers with greener, more economical transport options, this electric vehicle retailer found itself in urgent need of financial support as lockdowns and travel restrictions reduced the need for transport.

Specialising in anti-ageing skin treatments, 2 Faced Aesthetics worried it may not have been able to cover its direct debits when COVID-19 struck.

Based in the heart of Newcastle, this clothing retailer turned to the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) as the city locked down and trading stopped.

Training and corporate events company The Holt Limited saw its customer base disappear overnight when COVID-19 struck. Unable to apply for grants or take advantage of the furlough scheme, the business applied to the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) to help it weather the storm ahead.

The COVID-19 lockdowns drove this one-woman business to shut down altogether. With her income completely dried up, the owner, Lucy, sought help via the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) so she could move the operation fully online and market her products more widely.

Unable to service its existing customers or win new business because of COVID-19 restrictions, this fire safety company’s future was under threat unless it could secure funding. Declined a loan from its bank, the company turned to the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) for a vital lifeline.

Having launched in summer 2019 and experienced an encouraging start to life as a new business, this Cornish chocolate company had strong plans for the future. But once the COVID-19 pandemic asserted itself, the business had no option but to seek financial support in order to find new ways of working.

Forced by the COVID-19 pandemic to cease work on its first new development, this housebuilding company decided to seek support via the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) so it could resume construction as soon as restrictions allowed.

Used to running her business as a one-woman operation, Osmology founder Elizabeth Drew was looking to take on her first employee when COVID-19 hit.

As a self-employed, one-woman band whose company was still new, chemistry teacher Lisa Hogg didn’t qualify for any grants that would help her weather the coronavirus pandemic. Seeing her sales decline, and needing to sustain the business, she applied to the <a href='https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/ourpartners/coronavirus-business-interruption-loan-schemes/bounce-back-loans/'>Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) </a>for support.

Having grown from little more than a market stall in 2014 to an almost £1m-a-year business in 2020, the future was looking bright for this eco-friendly glitter supplier. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and the business faced sudden financial trouble, having spent much of its working capital on stock it now couldn’t sell. Furloughing staff and depending solely on its dwindling overdraft, the business applied to the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) for support.

Having already struggled through a challenging winter of bad weather, the arrival of COVID-19 and the associated lockdown meant this Cornwall riding centre had to shut down.

Forced to close a new £350,000 salon that opened only four days before the first government lockdown, this business then had to contend with a prolonged period of closure and no revenue from its usual hairdressing services.

Like the rest of the hospitality industry, this microbrewery had no option but to close its doors once the government lockdowns began. With its income massively depleted, and serious concerns over its ability to survive the pandemic, the business sought financial support via the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS).

Having taken on the business in 2018, the owners of this coaching inn, bar and restaurant were finally ready to see a profit for their endeavour. But when COVID-19 caused them to close, all their income disappeared and they were forced to make staff redundant.