British Business Bank Backs £9.4bn Finance for Firms

Key Points

• The British Business Bank supported £9.4 billion of finance for smaller businesses across the UK during the 2025/26 financial year.
• Of this total, £1.3 billion came from public funding, £4.3 billion was private capital crowded in by the Bank, and £3.7 billion was delivered through Bank-guaranteed lending.
• The Bank’s annual Impact Report shows it supported 30,000 businesses that had not previously received Bank-backed funding, alongside 8,000 businesses receiving follow-on funding.
• CEO Louis Taylor confirmed the Bank returned a pre-tax profit of £426 million in 2025/26, a threefold increase on the previous year’s £144 million.
• The Bank’s 2025/26 activities are projected to generate 39,000 additional jobs and £8.8 billion in gross value added (GVA) over the lifetime of the finance provided.
• 87% of newly-supported businesses were based outside London, including 3,500 small businesses in the North West of England.
• The North West alone could see 3,100 jobs created, £1.6 billion in turnover generated, and £700 million added to the regional economy.
• Nationally, the Bank’s activity is expected to support 340,000 existing roles and deliver £19.7 billion in additional business turnover.
• Chair Stephen Welton highlighted the Bank’s decade-long track record of over £40 billion in GVA and 250,000-plus additional jobs.
• Under its Five-year Strategic Plan, the Bank is targeting up to 370,000 new jobs and £57 billion of additional GVA by 2030.

Sheffield (Britain Today News) July 30, 2026 – The British Business Bank has supported £9.4 billion of finance for small businesses in the 2025/26 financial year, according to figures released in the organisation’s annual Impact Report. Of this sum, £1.3 billion was public funding, £4.3 billion was private capital crowded in by the Bank, and £3.7 billion came through lending the Bank guaranteed, marking one of the most significant years yet for the state-owned economic development bank as it works to widen access to finance for smaller businesses across the United Kingdom.

What is the British Business Bank’s Impact Report 2025/26?

The Impact Report is the British Business Bank’s annual assessment of how its funding programmes, guarantees and equity investments have affected smaller businesses and the wider UK economy over the preceding financial year. This year’s edition, covering the 2025/26 period, sets out the scale of finance supported, the number of businesses reached, and the projected economic returns generated by the Bank’s activity. The report is designed to provide transparency on how public money is deployed and what returns — in terms of jobs, turnover and economic output — are being generated as a result.

How much finance did the British Business Bank support in 2025/26?

According to the figures published in the report, the Bank supported a total of £9.4 billion of finance for smaller businesses during the financial year. This was made up of three distinct funding streams: £1.3 billion in direct public funding, £4.3 billion in private capital that was crowded in as a result of the Bank’s involvement, and £3.7 billion delivered through lending that carried a Bank guarantee. This blended model — combining direct investment with mechanisms that encourage private sector co-investment — sits at the heart of the Bank’s strategy to widen the pool of finance available to smaller firms without relying solely on Exchequer funding.

How many smaller businesses benefited from the Bank’s support?

The Impact Report revealed that the Bank was able to support 30,000 businesses that had not previously received Bank-supported funding before. A further 8,000 businesses received follow-on funding, indicating continued engagement with firms that had already benefited from the Bank’s programmes in earlier years. Together, these figures point to a substantial expansion in the reach of the Bank’s activity, both in terms of new businesses being brought into its funding ecosystem and existing recipients being supported to scale further.

What did Louis Taylor say about the Bank’s performance?

Louis Taylor, Chief Executive Officer of the British Business Bank, said:

“In 2025/26 the British Business Bank stepped up both the size and reach of its investments and deepened its support to strengthen the UK’s banking and alternative finance landscape for smaller businesses.”

He continued:

“The Bank has returned a pre-tax profit of £426m this year, a 3x increase on last year’s £144m profit. Our activities in 2025/26 are expected to produce an impact of 39,000 additional jobs and £8.8bn of gross value added over the life of the finance.”

Taylor added:

“With increased capacity for new funded commitments of £2.5bn a year, alongside issuing £2.1bn annually in guarantees, we are building momentum as we continue to invest at record levels and become a more confident, visible presence across the UK’s equity and debt finance markets. This year has started strongly.”

How much profit did the British Business Bank make in 2025/26?

The Bank’s own figures confirm a pre-tax profit of £426 million for the 2025/26 financial year. This represents a threefold increase compared with the £144 million profit recorded in the previous financial year, a jump that Taylor directly attributed to the scale and reach of the Bank’s investment activity during the period. The scale of this profit increase is notable given the Bank’s dual mandate: it is expected to operate on a commercially sustainable basis while simultaneously pursuing policy objectives around widening access to finance for smaller businesses across the UK.

What impact will the Bank’s 2025/26 activities have on jobs and growth?

Looking beyond the immediate financial figures, the Bank’s activities in 2025/26 are expected to produce a considerable longer-term economic impact. Nationally, the Bank’s activity during the year is projected to create an additional 39,000 jobs and support a further 340,000 existing roles over the life of the finance provided. The finance is also expected to deliver £19.7 billion of additional business turnover, while boosting UK economic output by £8.8 billion in gross value added. These projections are calculated over the full lifetime of the finance arrangements rather than within the 2025/26 financial year alone, reflecting the longer horizon over which lending, guarantees and equity investment typically generate economic returns.

Which regions benefited most from the Bank’s support?

Regional distribution featured prominently in this year’s Impact Report, with the Bank highlighting that 87% of newly-supported businesses were located outside of London. This included 3,500 small businesses in the North West of England specifically. The British Business Bank estimates that businesses it has backed in the North West could create 3,100 jobs and generate £1.6 billion in turnover, while adding £700 million to the regional economy over the lifetime of the finance provided. The emphasis on regions beyond the capital reflects the Bank’s stated aim of ensuring that access to finance is not concentrated in London and the South East, where private capital markets have traditionally been more developed.

What did Stephen Welton say about the Bank’s regional impact?

Stephen Welton, Chair of the British Business Bank, addressed the regional dimension of the Bank’s work directly. He said:

“The Bank, headquartered in Sheffield, with more than half of its workforce based outside its London office, is embedded in the communities and markets it supports as a champion of smaller businesses. We are making significant progress driving impact across the Nations and regions of the UK, in the last decade delivering over £40bn of GVA and more than 250,000 additional jobs.”

Welton continued:

“With two clear lines of business, over £25bn in financial capacity and greater flexibility, we are increasing access to finance for thousands of smaller businesses alongside supporting high growth innovative companies with equity investment. At a time when the UK must increase growth in every part of the country the role of the Bank, working closely with key partners on a local basis, is to do just that, targeting by 2030 up to 370,000 new jobs and up to £57bn of additional GVA under our Five-year Strategic Plan. These results show how the Bank is scaling up to deliver that.”

What is the British Business Bank’s Five-year Strategic Plan?

Welton’s comments point to a broader strategic framework underpinning the Bank’s 2025/26 results: its Five-year Strategic Plan. Under this plan, the Bank is targeting the creation of up to 370,000 new jobs and up to £57 billion of additional gross value added by 2030. The plan is built around two clear lines of business, backed by more than £25 billion in financial capacity, which the Bank says gives it greater flexibility to increase access to finance for thousands of smaller businesses while also supporting high-growth, innovative companies through equity investment. The Bank frames its 2025/26 performance as an early indicator of progress toward these longer-term 2030 targets.
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How is the Bank structured to deliver across the UK?

A recurring theme in this year’s report is the Bank’s operational footprint beyond London. Headquartered in Sheffield, the British Business Bank has more than half of its workforce based outside its London office. This structure is presented by the organisation as central to its ability to remain embedded in the communities and regional markets it serves, rather than operating primarily as a London-centric institution directing funding outward. The Bank says this regional presence supports closer working relationships with local partners, which it regards as essential to delivering finance where it is most needed across the UK’s nations and regions.

What does this mean for smaller businesses across the UK?

For smaller businesses, the headline figures in the 2025/26 Impact Report point to an expanding pool of available finance, delivered through a mixture of public funding, guaranteed lending and private capital crowded in by the Bank’s involvement. The scale of new business support — 30,000 firms receiving Bank-backed funding for the first time — suggests that access to finance is reaching a wider base of smaller businesses than in previous years, while the £2.5 billion annual capacity for new funded commitments and £2.1 billion in annual guarantees signalled by Taylor point to continued growth in the year ahead. With the Bank targeting up to 370,000 new jobs and £57 billion of additional GVA by 2030 under its Five-year Strategic Plan, the 2025/26 results are being positioned by its leadership as evidence that this longer-term ambition is being met with tangible progress on the ground.