The £330bn financial safety net has one big hole

摘要

It's been over a fortnight since the chancellor unveiled the blockbuster £330bn government-backed finance facilities for businesses suffering liquidity problems as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. You can't accuse the government of timidity in its approach so far, but I fear this particular measure is not working as it should - certainly not for our industry. To recap, the £330bn can be accessed through two schemes. The first of which, operated by the British Business Bank, offers loans of up to £5m to companies with turnover of less than £45m. The second involves contractors issuing commercial paper - a form of debt - through their corporate banking partners for the Bank of England to buy, thereby injecting cash into the business. Speaking to contractors and industry watchers since the announcement, the same problem keeps coming up: hundreds of mid-to-large firms are falling into the huge gap between the two schemes.