New figures show that the latest wave of British Business Bank funding hit 1,500 small Scottish firms over the last year, helping drive further fresh investment and put growth plans into motion. 

Figures released as part of the Bank’s second annual Impact Report show that Scottish businesses made up around 6% of all newly supported firms. Together, these companies are expected to generate an estimated £800 million in additional turnover, driving a £400 million uplift in economic output over the lifetime of their funding. 

Along with these increases in turnover and economic productivity, the Bank estimates that 16,000 jobs have already been supported, with an additional 1,600 jobs expected to be created as the momentum grows.

According to the report, one of the key drivers of this impact is the Bank’s £150 million Investment Fund for Scotland, which this month claimed to have delivered more than £25 million to Scottish businesses since launching eighteen months ago.

That funding has gone to support fifty-eight firms across the country, while an additional £26 million in private sector funding has also been committed, making the total investment into Scotland more than £52 million so far.

The Bank said that these numbers are evidence of its continued commitment to Scotland, as well as the UK’s other regions, with 84% of the businesses supported by the Bank over the 2024/25 period based outside of London, delivering an estimated £100 million boost to economic output for each region and nation.

“Estimated impact figures for Scotland show that our programmes are continuing to reach a large number of businesses each year, helping them to grow, reach new markets and expand to hire new staff,” said Susan Nightingale, Scotland director at the British Business Bank.

“As we continue to tackle imbalances in access to finance, particularly in terms of geographical spread and diversity among founders, we look forward to supporting even more of Scotland’s smaller businesses to thrive in the year ahead.”

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The national picture mirrors the Scottish success of the Bank’s investments. Over the last year, the report shows that the Bank supported a total of £6.8 billion in financing for the UK’s small businesses, with just £1.2 billion coming from its own public funding and the rest made up from lending guarantees and private capital crowding in.

That saw 24,000 businesses that hadn’t received Bank-supported funding before gain financing, creating an estimated 38,000 additional jobs and £18 billion in additional turnover.  

The Impact Report comes as the Bank gears up to deliver a step change in financing support to smaller businesses after its capacity was increased to £25.6 billion in June’s Spending Review, allowing it to increase annual investments to around £2.5 billion a year and to crowd in more third-party capital.