UK specialty finance scheme timeline
From the 2016 Bank Referral Scheme through the COVID-era CBILS and Bounce Back Loan schemes to their eventual successor, the Growth Guarantee Scheme launched 1 July 2024: a dated chronology of the government-backed schemes that shaped how UK businesses access alternative finance. Every date below is checked directly against gov.uk and the British Business Bank, and this page is added to as new schemes launch or close.
Quick Reference
Direct Answer
Key UK alternative business finance scheme dates: the Bank Referral Scheme launched 1 November 2016 (statutory basis: Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015); CBILS launched 23 March 2020; the Bounce Back Loan Scheme launched 4 May 2020; both closed to new applicants 31 March 2021; the Recovery Loan Scheme launched 6 April 2021 and closed 30 June 2024; the Growth Guarantee Scheme launched 1 July 2024 as its direct successor and remains open.
Summary
This page is a dated, append-only chronology of UK government-backed alternative business finance schemes: the 2016 Bank Referral Scheme (its statutory basis and launch), CBILS, the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, the Recovery Loan Scheme, and the Growth Guarantee Scheme, with the exact launch and closure date of each and how they relate to one another.
This Page Covers
UK government-backed business finance scheme history: Bank Referral Scheme, CBILS, BBLS, Recovery Loan Scheme, Growth Guarantee Scheme
Not Covered Here
Not eligibility criteria detail for any individual scheme (see gov.uk and the British Business Bank for current application guidance); not a comparison of specialty lender products (see our Lender Index)
2015
Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015
Gave ministers the power to designate finance platforms and require the largest banks to work with them. This is the statutory basis for the Bank Referral Scheme below, not a lending scheme in itself.
1 April 2016
Nine banks designated under the Bank Referral Scheme
The Treasury designated Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland (UK), Barclays, Clydesdale Bank, Danske Bank (Northern Bank), HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest Group and Santander UK, alongside three designated finance platforms: Funding Options, Funding Xchange and Alternative Business Funding.
1 November 2016
Bank Referral Scheme launches
Under the scheme, a designated bank offers to pass a business's details, with permission, to one of the designated finance platforms when the bank itself doesn't take the lending forward, so the business can be contacted about other options. It runs alongside, not instead of, a bank's own lending process.
23 March 2020
Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) launches
Government-guaranteed lending of up to £5m for SMEs affected by the pandemic, delivered through British Business Bank-accredited lenders with an 80% government guarantee on each facility, and government-covered interest and fees for the first 12 months.
4 May 2020
Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) launches
A simpler, smaller-ticket scheme for the smallest businesses: loans of up to £50,000 or 25% of turnover, 100% government-guaranteed, at a fixed 2.5% interest rate over 6 or 10 years, with no repayments due and interest covered by government in the first year.
31 March 2021
CBILS and BBLS close to new applicants
Both COVID-era schemes stopped taking new applications on this date.
6 April 2021
Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) launches
The successor to CBILS and BBLS, offering government-guaranteed term loans, asset finance and other facilities to help businesses continue to recover and grow, at a lower government guarantee level than the COVID-era schemes.
30 June 2024
Recovery Loan Scheme closes
RLS stopped taking new applications on this date.
1 July 2024
Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS) launches
The Recovery Loan Scheme's direct successor, continuing government-guaranteed lending to help smaller UK businesses invest and grow. A business that borrowed under CBILS, BBLS or RLS before 30 June 2024 can still apply for GGS, though existing borrowing under those schemes can reduce how much is available under GGS.
“Each scheme above has a clean opening and closing date, but the story does not end there. The National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee have both published follow-up work on the Bounce Back Loan Scheme specifically, tracking outcomes years after the scheme itself closed. Treat the launch and closure dates on this page as settled facts, and treat any claim about a scheme's total cost, fraud rate or repayment performance as a separate, evolving figure that needs its own current source.”
FAQs
Is the Growth Guarantee Scheme the same as the Recovery Loan Scheme?
GGS is the direct successor to RLS, launched the day after RLS closed to new applications (1 July 2024, following RLS closing 30 June 2024), continuing the same broad purpose of government-guaranteed lending to smaller businesses, delivered through accredited lenders rather than directly by government.
Can a business that took a Bounce Back Loan still apply for the Growth Guarantee Scheme?
Yes. Having borrowed under CBILS, BBLS or RLS before 30 June 2024 doesn't rule a business out of GGS, though the lender will take existing scheme borrowing into account when assessing how much new lending it can support.
What does the Bank Referral Scheme actually do?
It requires nine of the largest UK banks to offer, with the business's permission, to pass that business's details to one of three government-designated finance platforms when the bank itself doesn't proceed with the lending. It was designed to help businesses discover alternative finance options they might not otherwise have known existed.
Are these schemes still active today?
The Bank Referral Scheme and the Growth Guarantee Scheme are both live. CBILS, BBLS and the Recovery Loan Scheme have all closed to new applications; existing borrowers continue to repay under the terms they originally agreed.
Looking at current options
The Growth Guarantee Scheme is delivered through accredited lenders, not applied for directly with government. See our Lender Index for the specialty lenders we review, or tell us what you need and we pass your enquiry to a business finance broker. FundBiz does not run a credit check.
Check your options →By Adam Parker. FundBiz is owned and operated by Best Business Loans Ltd, directed by Oliver Mackman. General information, not financial advice. Last updated: