City of London

COVID-19 - business continuity - UK.

(CBILS).

The CBILS was provided by the UK government owned British Business Bank through participating providers.

It offered more attractive terms for both businesses applying for new facilities and lenders, with the aim of supporting the continued provision of finance to UK businesses during the Covid-19 outbreak.

The CBILS provided the lender with a UK government-backed guarantee against the outstanding facility balance, potentially enabling a ‘no’ credit decision from a lender to become a ‘yes’.

The UK government also paid the first 12 months of interest payments, enabling businesses to benefit from lower initial repayments. The business remained liable for repayments of the capital.

The maximum value of a facility provided under the scheme was £5 million.

CBILS supported a wide range of business finance products, including:

• Term facilities
• Overdrafts
• Invoice finance facilities
• Asset finance facilities

To be eligible for support via CBILS, the small business must:

• Be UK based, with annual turnover of no more than £45 million.
• Operate within an eligible industrial sector.
• Be unable to meet a lender’s normal lending requirements for a fully commercial loan or other facility, but would be considered viable in the longer-term.

For new borrowings from April 2021 onward, CBILS was superseded by the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS).

See also

• Bounce Back Loan Scheme
• British Business Bank
• Business continuity plan
• Contingency plan
• Coronavirus
• Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
• Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme
• COVID-19 Corporate Financing Facility
• Disaster recovery planning
• Financial stability
• Liquidity management
• Recovery Loan Scheme
• Stranded middle

Resources for COVID-19

ACT technical - COVID-19

UK government: support for businesses