The Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) launched on 6 April 2021 and supports access to finance for UK businesses as they recover and grow following the Covid-19 pandemic.

RLS aims to help businesses affected by Covid-19 and can be used for business purposes, including, managing cashflow, investment and growth. It is designed to support businesses that can afford to take out additional finance for these purposes. Businesses who have taken out a CBILS, CLBILS or BBLS facility are able to access the new scheme.

A key aim of the Recovery Loan Scheme is to improve the terms on offer to businesses, but if a lender can offer a business the choice of a commercial loan on better terms, without requiring the guarantee provided by the RLS, they should do so.

At Autumn Budget 2021, the government announced that the Recovery Loan Scheme will be extended by six months to 30 June 2022, with changes applying to all offers made from the 1 January 2022.

Robert Owen Community Banking Fund offers RLS loans to support access to finance for Welsh businesses as they recover and grow.

We’re offering RLS loans to sole traders, partnerships, limited companies, and limited liability partnerships.

You must have been impacted by COVID-19 and your business must be based in Wales and carrying out trading activity in the UK

Your business must have been trading for at least two years and must be viable. This is reviewed as part of our creditworthiness assessment.

You do not need to be an existing Robert Owen Community Banking Fund customer.

The following are not eligible for the RLS: Banks, Building Societies, Insurers and Reinsurers (excluding Insurance Brokers), public sector bodies, State funded primary and secondary schools

– Turnover limit: The scheme is open to smaller businesses with a turnover of up to £45m (on a group basis, where part of a group).

– UK-based: The borrower must be carrying out trading activity in the UK.

– No Covid-19 impact test required: Unlike with the previous phases of the scheme, for most borrowers there is no requirement to confirm they have been affected by Covid-19. For charities and Further Education colleges, confirmation of Covid-19 impact will still be required in some instances.

– Viability test: The lender will consider that the borrower has a viable business proposition but may disregard any concerns over its short-to-medium term business performance due to the uncertainty and impact of Covid-19.

– Business in difficulty: The borrower must not be a business in difficulty, including not being in relevant insolvency proceedings.

– Purpose: the facility must be used to support trading in the UK and cannot be used to support certain export related activities.Covid-19 impact: The borrower must confirm to the lender that it has been impacted by COVID-19.

Credit and fraud checks for all applicants: Robert Owen Community Banking Fund will undertake credit and fraud checks for all applicants. This will include a check on your business and its Directors.

Please note, the following are not eligible under RLS:
– Banks, Building Societies, Insurers and Reinsurers (excluding Insurance Brokers)
– Public sector bodies
– State-funded primary and secondary schools

Term Lending from £25,001 up to £2million (although the maximum we will lend is £50,000).

Term length: Loans from three months and up to six years.

Interest, fees & charges are to be paid by the borrower from the outset: Businesses are required to meet the costs of interest payments and any fees & charges associated with the RLS facility.

Access to multiple COVID-19 schemes: Businesses that have taken out a CBILS, CLBILS or BBLS facility are able to access the RLS scheme although the amount they have borrowed under a previous scheme may in certain circumstances limit the amount they may borrow under RLS.

Personal Guarantees: Personal guarantees can be taken at the lender’s discretion, in line with their normal commercial lending practices. Principal Private Residences cannot be taken as security within the Scheme.

Guarantee 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 RLS, like many Government-backed business support activities, is 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 RLS facility will not mean that the business exceeds the maximum amount of subsidy they are allowed to receive.

You will need to provide certain documents when you apply for an RLS-backed facility. These are likely to include:
– Management accounts
– A business plan
– Historic accounts
– Details of assets
– The amount of any previous subsidy received
Decision-making on whether a business is eligible for RLS is fully delegated to the British Business Bank’s accredited RLS lenders.