Home › Government-Backed Finance › Growth Guarantee Scheme
Government-backed finance
A government-backed guarantee that helps accredited lenders say yes to viable businesses. Facilities up to £2m. Most business owners have never heard of it.
The Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS) is the government's flagship business lending support scheme, launched on 1 July 2024 as the successor to the Recovery Loan Scheme. It works like this: the government provides accredited lenders with a 70% guarantee on qualifying facilities, which reduces the lender's risk and, in practice, helps viable businesses get approved where the security or track record alone might not have been enough.
One thing must be understood clearly, because it is the single most important fact about the scheme: the guarantee protects the lender, not you. As the borrower, you always remain 100% liable for the full debt. Personal guarantees can still be required at the lender's discretion. Anyone presenting GGS as the government part-paying your loan is misleading you.
What it actually gets you is access and flexibility. GGS supports term loans, overdrafts, asset finance and invoice finance, typically from £25,001 (and from as little as £1,000 for asset and invoice finance) up to £2m per business group, with terms of up to six years on loans and asset finance. It is open to UK businesses with turnover of up to £45m across most sectors, and, unlike its predecessor schemes, businesses that used Covid-era schemes are not excluded, though prior scheme borrowing can affect the maximum available.
The scheme is delivered entirely through accredited lenders, dozens of them, from high street banks to specialist and asset finance providers, and each applies its own credit policy on top of the scheme rules. That is exactly where a broker earns their keep: the same business can be declined by one accredited lender and approved by another on the same scheme, because the scheme sets the framework and the lender makes the decision. We know which accredited lenders suit which sectors, sizes and stories, and we package the application so the guarantee works in your favour rather than sitting unused.
Also see: Government-Backed Finance · Growth Guarantee Scheme · Business Loans · Commercial Mortgages
Start with what the money is for, not the scheme name. One call maps the realistic routes and what each would take.
Frequently asked questions
The headline tests: a UK business, turnover up to £45m, a viable business proposition, and not a business in relevant insolvency proceedings. Most sectors qualify, with a small number of exclusions such as banks and insurers. The final decision always sits with the accredited lender's own credit policy, and eligibility criteria are set by the scheme and can change, so we check your position against the current rules before anything is submitted.
No, and this matters: the 70% guarantee is given to the lender, not to you. You remain 100% liable for the whole debt, and personal guarantees can be required at the lender's discretion. The scheme improves access to finance; it does not reduce what you owe.
Up to £2m per business group in Great Britain (a lower cap applies to businesses in scope of the Northern Ireland Protocol), from £25,001 for loans and overdrafts and from £1,000 for asset and invoice finance. All figures are indicative, for UK incorporated businesses only and subject to the scheme's current rules and credit underwriting.
Frequently, yes, and this is the most common way we use the scheme. Accredited lenders apply their own criteria on top of the scheme framework, so a decline from one says little about the others. A decline is usually a matching and packaging problem, and this scheme gives us more lenders to match you with.
Question not answered? WhatsApp Chris directly or book a call, it is quicker than email.
Growth Guarantee Scheme enquiry
