British Business Bank increases Simply’s funding line to provide £300m of funding to SMEs

Today, the British Business Bank announces an increase to business lender Simply’s existing ENABLE Funding facility. In total, the facility will provide £300m of funding to SMEs across the UK. This is now the largest facility under the Bank’s ENABLE Funding programme, which aims to improve the supply of asset finance to the UK smaller business community.

Simply, an independent lender and equipment finance company, was formed in April 2017 in response to the need for innovation and disruption in the asset finance sector. It now employs over 110 people and has provided £650m of support to more than 4,200 customers since it was founded.

Launched in 2014, the ENABLE Funding programme supports the British Business Bank’s objective to diversify finance markets for smaller UK businesses. Providers of finance to smaller businesses often lack the scale required to access capital markets – a key source of funding for lending institutions – in a cost-efficient manner. The ENABLE Funding programme warehouses newly-originated finance receivables from different originators, bringing them together into a new structure. Once the structure has sufficient scale, it will refinance a portion of its funding on the capital markets, helping small finance providers to tap institutional investors’ funds.

Mike Randall, CEO of Simply, said: “We are proud to work with the British Business Bank and are committed to encouraging a positive change to the market and our customers. Our recently launched digital brand, Simply Connect, enables faster decisions through automated processes and is bringing the next generation of asset finance into the sector. This complements our personalised customer service. We look forward to serving as many SMEs as possible in these unprecedented times. We aim to help them grow and prosper, come rain or shine.”

Reinald de Monchy, Managing Director, Guarantee and Wholesale of the British Business Bank, said: “By partnering with alternative and non-bank lenders like Simply to help close the funding gap, we are enabling smaller businesses across the UK to gain access to finance through a wider offer of funding options. Tackling the problem of diversity of financial provision for small businesses is central to the ENABLE Funding programme, which was developed by the British Business Bank specifically to address this critical issue.”

Richard McDougall, Partner at Cabot Square Capital, said: “We have worked with Simply since the very beginning and have witnessed their rapid growth in the past four years. They have a clear vision to enable SMEs across the country to grow and prosper. Simply believe in the potential of their customers and are there for them through good and bad times. The fifth round of British Business Bank funding will help support smaller businesses, entrepreneurs and family businesses to do just that.”