Compass Business Finance has been accredited by the British Business Bank to offer the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS), introduced to help businesses affected by the Covid-19 pandemic access funding for managing cashflow, investment, and growth, as well as to improve the funding terms already offer.

Currently scheduled to run until 31 December 2021, RLS will make up to £10 million (the precise amount offered and the terms are at the discretion of participating lenders) available to businesses trading in the UK that would have been viable were it not for the pandemic, have been adversely impacted by the pandemic and are not currently in collective insolvency proceedings.

The maximum length of the facility depends on the type of finance applied for, currently up to 3 years for overdrafts and invoice finance facilities and up to 6 years for loans and asset finance facilities. Any company that is not a bank, building society, insurer, state-funded school or public sector body can apply for term loans or overdrafts of between £25,001 and £10 million or invoice or asset finance of between £1,000 and £10 million per business. No personal guarantees will be taken on facilities up to £250,000, and a borrower’s principal private residence cannot be taken as security.

Jamie Nelson, director of Compass Business Finance, explained that, ‘Our accreditation under the Recovery Loan Scheme will enable us to provide more businesses with the funding they need to move forward, whether we’re helping them restructure existing debts or providing the funding for much needed investments.

‘We are now better positioned to assist both larger groups of companies who previously only had access to CLBILS and those smaller companies who took Bounce Backs Loans but would benefit from further support.’

Compass Business Finance has previously collaborated with the British Business Bank to offer Regional Growth Funds, the Enterprise Finance Guarantee, and the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme. It has been confirmed that businesses who have taken out a CBILS, CLBILS or BBLS facility are able to access the new scheme, subject to affordability.