Growth Guarantee Scheme loans understand your options for growth

What is the Growth Guarantee Scheme?

The Growth Guarantee Scheme supports lending to viable smaller UK businesses by sharing some of the lender's risk with the government. It is not a grant, debt write-off or promise of approval. Your business remains 100% liable, even if the lender claims under the scheme.

GGS launched on 1 July 2024 as the successor to the Recovery Loan Scheme. Accredited lenders make their own credit decisions and may use it where they cannot offer equivalent or better finance without scheme support.

We are a credit broker, not a lender, and we are not an accredited GGS lender ourselves. We introduce businesses to accredited lenders and help prepare applications. Start with the short enquiry form on this page and one of our brokers will call you to talk through what your business needs.

Key features

What businesses may fund

• Working capital
• Stock and materials
• Equipment and machinery
• Business expansion
• Investment in operations
• Eligible refinancing

Facility types and terms

What changed in 2026?

The Treasury announcement published on 13 July 2026 set out a turnover limit increase from £45m to £54m and terms up to 10 years for loans up to £1.1m. Budget 2026 policy costings subsequently confirmed that the turnover and maximum-term changes took effect from October 2026.

There is a practical caveat: British Business Bank guidance checked on 9 November 2026 still describes six-year terms and a £45m limit while saying lenders are implementing the enhancements. Its announcement also mentions longer asset finance terms. We will ask the lender which updated terms it can offer rather than assume every facility qualifies. The scheme is scheduled to run through March 2030; that is separate from your repayment term.

Borrowing limits and subsidy rules

The general maximum is £2m per business group. For groups within the scope of the Northern Ireland Protocol, as amended by the Windsor Framework, the published limit is £1m, subject to any revised limit notified to lenders. Lower sector caps can apply, including primary agriculture and fisheries or aquaculture. Existing scheme borrowing may reduce your available amount.

Government support has a calculated subsidy value, even though you repay the loan. That value is not the same as the amount borrowed. Outside Northern Ireland Protocol rules, the relevant allowance is generally £315,000 across the current and previous two fiscal years, including other relevant subsidies. Different rules apply within scope of the Protocol. Give the lender your previous subsidy letters so it can check your remaining allowance.

How to apply through us

Tell us the amount, purpose and repayment term you need. We help assemble accounts, management figures, a business plan, asset details and previous subsidy information before introducing your application to an appropriate accredited lender.

The lender decides eligibility, affordability and whether to use GGS. It sets its own interest rates and fees, taking account of the scheme's benefit and the scheme fee it pays. Ask us to explain the full cost, security and any personal guarantee before deciding. Our banks and lenders comparison explains the wider choice.

What lenders typically look at

• UK trading activity with core operations in the UK, and group turnover within the applicable scheme limit.
• More than 50% of turnover from trading activity; registered charities and further education colleges are exempt from this test.
• A business proposition the lender considers viable, with affordable borrowing for a legitimate business purpose.
• Not a business in difficulty, including relevant insolvency proceedings.
• Within subsidy limits, with written confirmation and details of previous relevant support.
• Excluded applicants include banks, building societies, insurers and reinsurers, public-sector bodies, state-funded primary and secondary schools, and certain mining, quarrying and fossil-fuel extraction activities. Insurance brokers are not excluded on that basis.