Flexible Finance

What is the Flexible Finance Fund?

The Flexible Finance Fund is a partnership between Social Investment Business, The Ubele Initiative and Create Equity. It will be providing £4m of funding and support to 15-25 Black and Racially Minoritised charities and social enterprises in England with a material package of funding and support to help them to grow or take on assets and become more resilient

Flexible Finance works through providing a flexible grant and support alongside a loan from the Recovery Loan Fund with the grant being up to 100% of the loan value (grant ranges from 50% to 100% of the loan value and is capped at a maximum of £200k) alongside direct support from Ubele or Create Equity through the funding application process. The loan alongside the grant can range from £50k to £1.5m and be repaid over 1 to 6 years.

The fund is supported by the Government guarantee scheme – Growth Guarantee Scheme.

Who is it for?

The Recovery Loan Fund with Flexible Finance is for Black and Racially Minoritised charities and social enterprises based in England who are improving people’s lives, or the environment they live in.

Visit our Flexible Finance FAQs page.

Am I eligible?

• Black and Racially Minoritised-led: 51% or above of the organisation’s board and senior management team must be from Black and Racially Minoritised backgrounds. 
• Legally constituted and a registered charity or social enterprise. 
• Primarily constituted for social benefit improving people’s lives or the environments they live in. 
• Operating for at least two years. 
• Minimum turnover of £200k in its last financial year. 
• Not subject to any insolvency proceedings e.g., winding-up, administration, insolvency, bankruptcy. 
• No previous repayable finance: Your organisation must not have received repayable finance of greater than £25k. This excludes Bounce Back Loans. 
• Grants are only available for organisations operating in England.

A loan cannot be used to support the following sectors: 

• Banks, Building Societies, Non-bank Deposit-taking Organisations. 
• Insurers and Reinsurers (excluding Insurance Brokers).
• Public sector bodies.
• State funded primary and secondary schools.

Not sure if this fund is for you? Want to talk about your eligibility or any questions you have about the application process? We’re happy to help, just get in touch at: loans@sibgroup.org.uk 

What could I receive?

Loan

Flexible Finance Grant

Flexible Finance Grant (Disbursed as a single payment alongside the loan)

Additional Support

The Ubele Initiative and Create Equity will provide support to Black and Racially Minoritised applicants pre and post application. 

They can aid in the application process, including support writing the application and work with organisations to gather information needed before Investment Committee.  

The Ubele Initiative and Create Equity will provide ongoing support for any additional advice or questions that may need answering and the same with post support.  

The Ubele Initiative and Create Equity will bring their networks, expertise and understanding to the project, and provide support to organisations throughout the funding application and assessment process.  

To find out more, please contact The Ubele Initiative and Create Equity.

How does the fund work?

SIB works with experienced Black and Racially Minoritised partners The Ubele Initiative and Create Equity. Access – The Foundation for Social Investment provides the grant funding for the Flexible Finance Fund

The loan monies come from the Recovery Loan fund, with initial investment from SIB and the Fusion21 Foundation – the charity parent and social investor of social enterprise and public sector procurement provider Fusion21. In January 2022, The Archbishop’s Council, Big Society Capital, MFS Investment Management, and Treebeard Trust were announced as further investors in the fund, taking funds raised to date to £21.5m (including follow-on commitments).

We established the fund to make it easier for charities and social enterprises to benefit from the Government’s guarantee scheme – Growth Guarantee Scheme. 

What is the Government’s Growth Guarantee Scheme?

The new iteration of the Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS) launched in July 2024 and is designed to support access to finance for UK small business as they look to invest and grow.  

The Growth Guarantee Scheme aims to improve the terms on offer to borrowers. If a lender can offer a commercial loan better term, they will do so. 

Businesses that took out a CBILS, CLBILS, BBLS or RLS facility before 30 June 2024 are not prevented from accessing GGS from July 2024, although in some cases it may reduce the amount a business can borrow. 

Growth Guarantee Scheme-backed facilities are provided at the discretion of the lender. Lenders are required to undertake their standard credit and fraud checks for all applicants. 

Guarantee is to the lender: The scheme provides the lender with a 70% government-backed guarantee against the outstanding balance of the facility after it has completed its normal recovery process. The borrower always remains 100% liable for the debt. 

Subsidy: The assistance provided through GGS, like many Government-backed business support activities, could be regarded as a subsidy and is deemed to benefit the borrower. There is a limit to the amount of subsidy that may be received by a borrower, and its wider group, over any rolling three-year period. Any previous subsidy may reduce the amount a business can borrow. 

All borrowers in receipt of a subsidy from a publicly funded programme should be provided with a written statement, confirming the level and type of aid received. 

Borrowers will need to provide written confirmation that receipt of the GGS facility will not mean that the business exceeds the maximum amount of subsidy they are allowed to receive. 

To find out more about the requirements, please visit out Subsidy Guidance.