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British Business Investments – Full year results for the period ending 31 March 2022

Press release 22 November 2022

British Business Investments, a wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of British Business Bank plc, today publishes its Annual Report and Accounts for 2021/22.

Key highlights include:

  • A record number of commitments to new and existing delivery partners – 20 in total, at a value of £350m
  • In its eighth year of operation, British Business Investments’ cumulative commitments reach almost £3.4bn
  • A strong returns performance, delivering pre-tax profit of £189.4m
  • Support for more than 24,000 smaller businesses across the UK, 85% of which are outside of London
We are pleased to report another strong performance by British Business Investments, delivering a record number of new commitments in an annual period – 20 totalling £350m – and strong profit before tax of £189.4m. As a ‘through the cycle’ investor and lender we have continued to invest strongly over the last year despite the challenging economic headwinds and have remained active and visible in the market, to support funding for the UK’s smaller businesses. - Judith Hartley CEO, British Business Investments
  1. Increase the supply of finance to smaller businesses across the UK: As at 31 March 2022, British Business Investments had made total commitments of £3.38bn to finance providers to support funding to UK smaller businesses since its inception in 2014. New commitments in 21/22 were £350m. Third parties invest alongside us and in addition to our new commitments of £350m, they have invested a further £1.2bn, meaning that total funding of almost £1.6bn has been delivered to the UK market in the past financial year.
  2. Help to create a more diverse finance market: In 2021/22, British Business Investments made 20 commitments, 13 of which were to new delivery partners. This increases total portfolio investments to 96 through 60 different delivery partners.
  3. Identify and help to address regional imbalances in access to finance: British Business Investments is providing funding to more than 24,000 businesses, 85% of which are based outside of London.
  4. Manage taxpayer’s money efficiently, whilst generating a commercial rate of return: Income from investments was £203.4m, delivering pre-tax profit of £189.4m, compared to £120.5m and £107.4m respectively in the previous financial year.
In my outgoing year as Chair, I am delighted to confirm that British Business Investments has once again performed well against its key objectives. The portfolio we have built since inception in 2014 is highly diversified by asset class, by delivery partner, by sector and by geography and supports thousands of smaller businesses in all parts of the UK, whilst consistently enabling us to generate a profit for the UK taxpayer. I am, therefore, tremendously proud of all that has been achieved, including the significant impact British Business Investments has had, and continues to have, in the alternative finance market for UK smaller businesses. - Francis Small Chair of British Business Investments

British Business Investments supports the development of more diverse debt and equity finance markets throughout the UK. To increase the choice of finance for smaller businesses, British Business Investments provides funding through a wide range of finance providers – including peer to peer lenders, small-cap private debt funds, challenger banks, asset finance providers, equity funds-of-funds and regionally-based early-stage investors.

British Business Investments Annual Report and Accounts 2021/22.

Further Information

Notes to editors

About British Business Investments

British Business Investments is the trading name of British Business Investments Ltd, a wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of British Business Bank plc, the UK government’s economic development bank. It forms part of the British Business Bank’s commercial arm.

British Business Investments aims to earn a commercial return by investing – through finance providers – in smaller businesses and small mid-caps, pursuing investments on a fully commercial basis without receiving any economic advantage from the government. Find out more at bbinv.co.uk.

British Business Bank plc and its subsidiary entities are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. They are not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). A complete legal structure chart for British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries can be found on the British Business Bank plc website.

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