Securing finance through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)

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Commercial lenders have now approved more than £2.8 billion of financing to support businesses as part of the UK government’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). This is according to the latest data published by UK Finance on 23 April.

Among nearly 50 approved lenders, with more being considered by the British Business Bank, more than 36,000 applications have been submitted, with 16,624 of those now approved.

But what has happened to the remaining 20,000 businesses that are so far unsuccessful? Or the many more that haven’t made the enquiry stage? What’s stopping them from getting the support they need and what are their options from here?

Understanding CBILS eligibility

The eligibility criteria begins clearly. Businesses are required to be based in the UK and have an annual turnover of no more than £45 million.

But the application process becomes more difficult when businesses are asked to submit a borrowing proposal that the lender would consider viable if not for the coronavirus pandemic. They must also self-certify that their business has been adversely impacted by coronavirus.

So what can businesses do to ensure they’re clear on their chances of accessing finance through CBILS? How can they put their best foot forward when it comes time to submit their request for loans, overdrafts, invoice finance or asset finance of up to £5 million?

Webinar: Advice on securing a CBILS loan

For advice on how to better understand the eligibility requirements, and set your business up for success, join our webinar with the experts on Thursday, 30 April at 10am.

Ben Johnson, Xero’s Partnerships Manager – Business Platform, will be joined by Katrin Herrling, CEO & Co-Founder of Funding Xchange, and Ollie Maitland, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Capitalise, to discuss what’s been going wrong with those 20,000 unsuccessful applications.

Ben, Katrin and Ollie will further discuss options for how to choose a CBILS loan provider, tips on what to provide when applying, and what to do if you or your clients have already been turned down.

Ben will then be joined by Xero education specialist Becca Smith who will share insight on how to provide up to date financial information to support CBILS applications by making the most of Xero’s financial reporting tools.

Join the webinar: 10am, Thursday, 30 April. Register now

Get more support through COVID-19

Visit our dedicated site for more webinars, inspirational stories, and resources to help you navigate through this time.

Meet the experts

Ben Johnson, Katrin Herrling & Ollie Maitland

Ben Johnson, Partnerships Manager – Business Platform, Xero

Ben first found his way to Xero in 2014 in his native home of Australia, where he helped hundreds of accounting firms migrate their practice to Xero and the cloud. Ben then made the move to London where for the past four years his role (and passion) has been to bring fintechs onto the Xero platform to help customers gain a better view of their financial position, manage payments and access capital.

Katrin Herrling, CEO & Co-Founder of Funding Xchange

Katrin co-founded Funding Xchange (FXE), setting out to use access to new live data sources and advanced analytics to disrupt the inefficient SME funding space by creating the first UK platform for businesses to easily access bank and non-bank funding solutions in one place.

Today, FXE is working with nine UK banks and 40+ lenders to help customers access SME funding, delivering services to the UK’s largest price comparison websites and building marketplaces that are integrated into banks’ SME banking proposition.

Ollie Maitland, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Capitalise

Previously, as a business owner who bootstrapped and grew a product and engineering consultancy, Ollie’s been through the ups, the downs and the “I just don’t knows” of running a business.

In permanent “research mode” with the 1,800 accounting firms who use Capitalise.com to expand their services to clients, he’s focused on making it easier to find and select the financial products business owners need. Their marketplace has expanded to include CBILS, corporate finance needs and other government schemes in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

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