Boost for SMEs as bank commits £30m in funding

British Business Investments, the commercial arm of Sheffield-headquartered British Business Bank, has committed £30m to a major fund for SMEs to help them invest in their growth and expansion plans.

BBI pledged the £30m in the initial closing of Shard Credit Partners Fund I as part of a first close of the fund with £90m of commitments.

The fund will provide loans of £5-15m to UK SMEs with turnover of less than £100m.

British Business Investments is providing the funding under its Investment Programme, which has now committed £700m to providers of finance to UK smaller businesses. It says the programme helps to widen the choice of funding SMEs can find on the market.

Shard Credit Partners is seeking to raise additional commitments for the fund in 2018.

Catherine Lewis La Torre, CEO of British Business Investments, said: “British Business Investments is committed to providing capital to direct lending funds focused on SME lending, where there is a continued under-serve by banks and other lenders.  We are pleased to make this commitment to Shard Credit Partners as it launches its first fund, and look forward to seeing new finance made available to SMEs throughout the UK.”

Alastair Brown, chief executive of Shard Credit Partners, added: “We are delighted to have held a first close and greatly appreciate the support of our investors, which includes a significant £30m commitment from British Business Investments.  We can now focus on providing much needed flexible loan capital to help small businesses invest in their own growth and expansion plans, supporting job creation and growth in the critically important SME segment of the UK economy.”