£6 billion in lending committed to help SMEs thrive

We’re committing a minimum £6 billion of lending over the next three years to help fuel growth for small and medium sized businesses all over the UK.

This commitment will include significant amounts of finance support across the UK economy in 2017, including:

• £1 billion to support the day-to-day finance needs of SMEs
• £350 million to provide facilities for medium sized businesses seeking finance for growth
• Up to £200 million in lending to SMEs in the agriculture sector – supporting the UK’s rural economies
• £650 million to support our other key sectors that provide lending for major property purchases, financial services, and the UK’s industrial base

Action backed by research

Our research* shows that 35% of SMEs find accessing finance from banks to be a challenge. Another 9% of SMEs said that accessing finance is either “very difficult” or “almost impossible”.

The survey also revealed that SMEs identified finance as the key growth issue, with 41% saying it’s the most important factor that could help SMEs grow and prosper in their respective regions.

Helping businesses all over the UK

The research also highlights that 41% of those businesses based outside London and the South East believe they don’t have the same access to finance as businesses in London and surrounding areas.

Our SME business is concentrated entirely on UK firms, with over 90% of our SME lending focused on regions outside London. In 2017, we expect to lend over £200m to SMEs in the Yorkshire region.

Of those SMEs seeking finance:

• 24% said they intend to use external finance to hire new staff
• 20% plan to invest in new infrastructure or capital equipment
• 20% plan to buy or refurbish premises
• 18% would use new finance as working capital
• 9% said they would invest in Research & Development

Our record supporting SMEs

We successfully launched CYBG as an independent banking group in 2016. That year, Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks’ core SME business returned to growth for the first time in five years, growing by 6.1%, with new loans and facilities granted growing by 15%.

Gavin Opperman, Group Customer Banking Director at CYBG, said:

“With our rich and longstanding heritage across core regional economies, we recognise the important role local businesses have in forming the backbone of the UK economy, by providing employment and financial security for business owners and their employees. CYBG has been acting as a regional economic champion for over 175 years and we have a history of supporting businesses at critical moments in their growth.

“Our focus on developing lifelong relationships with our customers via our business banking centres and regional managers means we have developed the expertise to understand the varying challenges businesses face at different stages in their lifecycle. With more than £2 billion in funding in 2017, and £6 billion over the next three years CYBG is proud to finance the innovation and creativity of small and medium enterprises across the UK.”

Where’s the money going? (PDF, opens in a new window)

Find out more about business loans and finance

*Research conducted by Atomik Research with 750 SMEs across the UK in March 2017

All our loans are subject to status and eligibility. Security may be required.