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Social Investment Scotland secures £3.5m from the British Business Bank to support Scotland’s smaller business community

Press release 30 July 2026

The British Business Bank has allocated £3.5m to Edinburgh-based Social Investment Scotland (SIS) to support underserved smaller businesses across several areas within Scotland, with loans ranging from £25,001 to £125,000.

SIS is the 8th Community Development Finance Institution (CDFI) lender accredited by the British Business Bank under its Community ENABLE Funding programme and the first with a dedicated focus on Scotland.

SIS offers debt finance and support to underserved charities, social enterprises and smaller businesses that may find it difficult to access finance from mainstream lenders.

CDFIs typically have strong, local knowledge of the businesses they support and the communities they reside in. As such, they are well placed to help remove barriers to accessing finance experienced by businesses, which can unlock the potential in those communities.

One of the key objectives of the British Business Bank’s Community ENABLE Funding programme is to help develop the CDFI sector across the UK. The programme will provide a significant boost, supporting up to £150m of lending over its first two years.

The Community ENABLE Funding programme works by increasing the availability of funding to social impact small business lenders, including CDFIs, who in turn can provide that funding to the smaller businesses they serve in local communities.

SIS is an established CDFI, with more than 25 years’ experience delivering responsible, impact-led lending to social enterprises and charities across Scotland. SIS recently led the delivery of The Community Investment Enterprise Fund, bringing Lloyds Bank, Better Society Capital, Triodos and four CDFIs together as a fund manager to invest £72m into 750 businesses across England and Wales.

Funding from the Community ENABLE Funding programme will be deployed by SIS across several key local authorities for an initial pilot phase including Glasgow, Argyll and Bute, West Dunbartonshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, East Ayrshire and Inverclyde.

Reinald de Monchy, Chief Banking Officer at the British Business Bank, said:

Expanding the Community ENABLE Funding programme across the UK’s Nations and regions is central to our mission, so we are delighted to welcome Social Investment Scotland as the programme’s 8th accredited lender.

Social Investment Scotland has a strong and trusted track record in the region, and we are confident that their local insight will help break down barriers to finance for a wider pool of entrepreneurs, supporting job creation and enabling them to realise their full potential.

Alastair Davis, CEO of Social Investment Scotland, said:

We promised Scotland would be next when we launched the Community Investment Enterprise Fund to help CDFIs support small businesses in England and Wales. With that fund now fully deployed, this accreditation brings that ambition closer to home.

Through the Community ENABLE Funding programme, we can reach small businesses across communities in Scotland that are often underserved by mainstream lending, giving them the capital they need to grow, create jobs and build resilience in their local economies.

We're proud to be working with the British Business Bank and a strong network of referral partners to make sure this funding reaches the businesses and communities who will benefit most.

Further Information

If you are a journalist and have a media enquiry, please contact [email protected].

Notes to editors

The British Business Bank’s Community ENABLE Funding programme will be rolled out in two phases. In this first phase, the Department for Business and Trade will provide 100% of the programme’s funding via the British Business Bank, which will enable CDFIs to make more finance available to smaller businesses.  
In the second phase, the British Business Bank will source additional funding from private sector investors, leveraging the government-backed funding to increase the amount of wholesale finance available under the programme. 

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 drive economic growth by helping smaller businesses get the finance they need to start, scale and stay in the UK. Its remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller business access to finance programmes for the UK government.

In 2025/26 1 , the Bank supported UK smaller businesses to access £9.4bn of finance, made up of £1.3bn of public funding, £4.3bn of private capital crowded in by the Bank and £3.7bn of lending the Bank guaranteed. The funding benefited 38,000 UK businesses, including around 30,000 businesses the Bank had not previously helped to fund.

British Business Bank plc is a public limited company registered in England and Wales, registration number 08616013, registered office at Steel City House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 2GQ. It is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government. British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. With the exception of BBB Investment Services Limited they are not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority or the Financial Conduct Authority. BBB Investment Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. A complete legal structure chart for the group can be found at british-business-bank.co.uk.

The accreditation described above does not constitute or imply any endorsement, warranty or recommendation by the UK government, the British Business Bank plc, its subsidiaries or any other party of Social Investment Scotland or its products or services. 

About Social Investment Scotland

Social Investment Scotland was established in 2000 to provide a new finance model for Scotland's charities and social enterprises.

Over 25 years it has invested £167 million in 570 social enterprises. Loan finance via Social Investment Scotland is available from £25,001 to £875,000, with the flexibility to consider smaller amounts based on specific requirements and is aimed at community enterprises and social businesses that might find access to finance from mainstream providers difficult. 

Social Investment Scotland also helps to manage funds on behalf of third parties with any profits being re-invested into social business development in Scotland.

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