Close Brothers Asset Finance accredited to GGS

Close Brothers Asset Finance has been accredited by the British Business Bank (BBS) under the government-backed Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS), which supports access to finance for small businesses in the UK as they look to invest and grow.

The accreditation follows the funder successfully supporting smaller businesses through the two preceding schemes, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS).

The Growth Guarantee Scheme – which is a successor to the Recovery Loan Scheme – launches with a wide range of products, including term loans, overdrafts, asset finance, invoice finance and asset-based lending.

The scheme can support facility sizes of up to £2m and businesses can use the finance for any legitimate business purpose – including managing cashflow and investment.

Matt Roper, CEO of Close Brothers Commercial, stated: “We are delighted to have been accredited by the BBB. The GGS provides both lenders and the business community with the continuity needed to create confidence while allowing SMEs to plan for the future.

“A key feature of the scheme is to improve small business’ access to funding across all sectors and regions. Government-backed guarantees like the GGS encourages and enables lenders – like ourselves – to provide support to a wider range of businesses, something we did very successfully with CBILS and RLS.”