Community Enable Funding Programme

The British Business Bank’s Community ENABLE Funding (CEF) Programme is here to help social impact ‘non for profit’ lenders - like Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) - access more funding and reduce financial constraints. This means they can better support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), especially those in underserved communities, by increasing the availability of finance.

The programme’s goals are to

• Help social lenders and CDFIs increase their smaller business lending activity by providing more funding.
• Enable increased funding to smaller businesses that have been excluded or declined by mainstream lenders.
• Support more ethnic minority-led and female-led businesses.
• Boost access to finance for smaller businesses in deprived areas.

Eligibility criteria

To qualify, businesses need to show they are financially stable and meet the lender’s criteria. This includes the requirements of the Growth Guarantee Scheme, which applies to loans funded through CEF

The Community ENABLE Fund, and the Growth Guarantee Scheme is managed by the British Business Bank on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business and Trade. British Business Bank plc is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government. It is not authorised or regulated by the PRA or the FCA.