Community Builders Fund

• Based in England, Wales, or Scotland
• Legally constituted and a registered charity or social enterprise.
• Primarily constituted for social benefit improving people’s lives or the environments they live in.
• Operating for at least two years.
• Minimum turnover of £400k in its last financial year (or £200k if the organisation is based in Scotland or Wales)
• Not subject to any insolvency proceedings e.g. winding-up, administration, insolvency, bankruptcy

See the Application Form Guidance for a list of eligible/ ineligible income items.

A loan cannot be used to support the following sectors:

• • Banks, Building Societies, Non-bank Deposit-taking Organisations
  • Insurers and Reinsurers (excluding Insurance Brokers)
  • Public sector bodies
  • State funded primary and secondary schools

Loan

We run and set up the fund, with initial investment from SIB and the Fusion21 Foundation – the charity parent and social investor of social enterprise and public sector procurement provider Fusion21. In January 2022, The Archbishop’s Council, Big Society Capital, MFS Investment Management, and Treebeard Trust were announced as further investors in the fund, taking funds raised to date to £21.5m (including follow-on commitments).

SIB works with experienced social investor partners to deliver the fund: Big Issue Invest, Charity Bank, Co-operative & Community Finance, Fredericks Foundation, Groundwork, Homeless Link,  Key Fund, Resonance, The Architectural Heritage Fund,  Wales Council for Voluntary Action, and Black and Racially Minoritised partners The Ubele Initiative and Create Equity.

We established the fund to make it easier for charities and social enterprises to benefit from the Government’s guarantee scheme – Growth Guarantee Scheme.

The Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS) launched in July 2024 and is designed to support access to finance for UK small business as they look to invest and grow.

The Growth Guarantee Scheme aims to improve the terms on offer to borrowers. If a lender can offer a commercial loan better terms, they will do so.

Businesses that took out a CBILS, CLBILS, BBLS or RLS facility before 30 June 2024 are not prevented from accessing the GGS from July 2024, although in some cases it may reduce the amount a business can borrow.

Growth Guarantee Scheme-backed facilities are provided at the discretion of the lender. Lenders are required to undertake their standard credit and fraud checks for all applicants.

Guarantee is to the lender: The scheme provides the lender with a 70% government-backed guarantee against the outstanding balance of the facility after it has completed its normal recovery process. The borrower always remains 100% liable for the debt.

Subsidy: The assistance provided through GGS, like many Government-backed business support activities, could be regarded as a subsidy and is deemed to benefit the borrower. There is a limit to the amount of subsidy that may be received by a borrower, and its wider group, over any rolling three-year period. Any previous subsidy may reduce the amount a business can borrow.

All borrowers in receipt of a subsidy from a publicly funded programme should be provided with a written statement, confirming the level and type of aid received.

Borrowers will need to provide written confirmation that receipt of the GGS facility will not mean that the business exceeds the maximum amount of subsidy they are allowed to receive.

To find out more about the requirements, please visit out Subsidy Guidance.

Business Finance Support

The British Business Bank has a range of guidance and resources available to all businesses, including content on managing your cash flow and a list of independent advice services.

Legal Notice

The Growth Guarantee Scheme is managed by the British Business Bank on behalf of, and with the financial backing of, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. British Business Bank plc is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government. It is not authorised or regulated by the PRA or the FCA. Visit: https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/finance-options/debt-finance/growth-guarantee-scheme

*Organisations based in Northern Ireland will be referred to Community Finance Ireland.