'SMEs can bank on our support'

ONE of the biggest winners from Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ latest spending splurge, the British Business Bank had its lending capacity beefed up and pledged to back the UK’s innovators with its expanded range.

- By Paul Wiseman

The bank had its funding capacity increased to £25.6bn in the Spending Review from near £15.6bn as it targets eight key sectors that ministers have named as growth-drivers.

These include creative industries, digital and tech, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, defence, financial and professional services. In the government's industrial strategy a fresh £6.6bn was injected into the bank by the Department for Business and Trade in a bid to give it greater opportunity to support small business across the UK.