| Practice area: | Entrepreneurship & SMEs | Finance | Public Policy |
|---|---|
| Client: | British Business Bank |
| Published: | 28 November, 2023 |
| Keywords: | impact assessment SMEs finance impact evaluation report |
In March 2020, in response to the massive disruption caused to businesses by the Covid-19 pandemic, the government rapidly deployed £78bn of finance to business through the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS).
The second of three phases of the evaluation, carried out by London Economics and Ipsos, found that the schemes may have saved hundreds of thousands of businesses from permanent closure. Econometric analysis of secondary data also found that the schemes may have boosted turnover and employment of borrowers during the depths of the pandemic.
Overall, this research sheds light on the impact and process of business support schemes during major crises. The press release and full report can be found here.