UK Government helps more than 90,000 businesses in Scotland

• More than 86,000 loans worth more than £3.4 billion have been offered under the Bounce Back Loans Scheme
• More than 4,000 loans worth £982 million have been offered under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme
• 142,000 people in Scotland have benefitted from the self-employment income support scheme

Businesses in Scotland benefitted from more than £3.4 billion of UK Government-backed loans to protect and support jobs across the region, new data reveals today.

More than 86,000 loans have supported businesses across all sectors, protecting jobs. But the retail and construction sectors have benefitted the most, demonstrating how UK Government support helped those businesses that were impacted hardest by the pandemic.

Similarly, the self-employment income support scheme has benefitted business people across all sectors, with 142,000 people in Scotland benefitting from SEISS, with an average claim of £2,500.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak said:

Throughout this crisis, we have provided more than £280 billion of support to protect jobs and livelihoods up and down the country.

We are committed to continuing to ensure jobs are protected and opportunity is created.

Companies across Scotland have benefitted from support through government-backed loans, including engineering animation consultants, Cadherent, based in Aberdeen.

David Thomson, managing director of Cadherent said:

The availability of CBILS has been a huge help to our business during this crisis. The scheme has allowed us to take stock as the situation has evolved, without making knee-jerk decisions.

Without the loan, we’d certainly have been forced to take a far more cautious approach in the short term while the markets settle. This would have meant some employees losing their jobs and the business having to immediately stop any spending within its supply chain.

Scottish Secretary, Alister Jack said:

Throughout the pandemic, the UK Government has taken quick and unprecedented action to protect jobs and support businesses in Scotland.

Today’s figures speak for themselves, over 90,000 businesses across Scotland have benefitted from £3.4 billion in UK-Government backed loans providing a vital lifeline and certainty to plan for the months ahead.

This is just part of a package of UK Government support for businesses which also includes the furlough scheme, now extended to April, self-employed income scheme and VAT cuts for our hospitality and tourism sectors.

We have also given the Scottish Government an additional £8.6 billion of upfront funding this year to help them respond to the pandemic with the good news last week that some of this money is now finding its way to businesses.

As we continue to see throughout this pandemic, the strength of the Union and support offered by the UK Treasury has never been more important.

At the start of Winter, the Chancellor announced that more than a million businesses who took out a Bounce Back Loan will now receive further protection from the Covid crisis through flexible repayments, under the new Pay as You Grow system, which gives businesses more time to repay. Since then, the UK Government has extended the loans schemes until March, and given businesses the ability to ‘top-up’ their loans if they need to.

The UK Government has invested more than £280 billion throughout the pandemic to protect millions of jobs and businesses, including extending the self-employed and furlough schemes through to April to give businesses the certainty they need to plan over the coming months.