The British Business Bank (BBB) has published a comprehensive five-year strategic plan aimed at delivering a “step change” in how smaller UK businesses are financed. Responding to an updated mandate from the UK Government, the Bank has outlined how it intends to leverage its expanded permanent financial capacity of £25.6billion to catalyse private investment, back emerging technologies, and solve the UK’s persistent scale-up challenge.
The strategy signals a shift in gear for the UK’s economic development bank, moving beyond stability to active growth acceleration. At the heart of the plan is a commitment to increase the Bank’s annual deployment of finance by two-thirds. Over the next five years, the BBB aims to unlock approximately £26billion of private capital alongside £13billion of its own funding, while enabling up to £10billion in smaller business lending through guarantees.
Embracing risk to back innovation
For the UK fintech and broader technology sectors, the most significant aspect of the plan is the Bank’s pledge to “take on additional risk.” The strategy outlines a new approach where the BBB will provide the first capital in deals supporting emerging technologies—areas where the UK has the potential to lead globally but where private finance often fears to tread.
This increased risk appetite will be deployed at a portfolio level to prioritise sectors identified in the government’s modern Industrial Strategy.
Peter Kyle, secretary of State for Business and Trade, welcomed the shift, noting that while UK small businesses possess “ambition and bright ideas in abundance,” they too often lack the finance required to reach their full potential.
“This has to change and with this new 5-year plan it will,” said Kyle. “The Bank is increasing its pace of investment by two thirds, with a whopping £4 billion boost for the most promising businesses in our Industrial Strategy sectors, supporting tens of thousands of businesses, creating jobs, and driving growth.”
Solving the scale-Up gap
A recurring issue in the UK financial ecosystem is the “scale-up gap,” where promising startups struggle to secure later-stage funding domestically, often forcing them to list or relocate overseas, particularly to the US.
The BBB’s new plan tackles this directly. The Bank has committed to targeting over 60 per cent of its venture and venture-growth investment towards scale-ups. This includes the ability to write larger cheques of £100 million or more into top-tier growth-stage funds. Furthermore, the Bank plans to increase the number and size of its direct investments, ensuring that strategically important companies can raise domestic capital and, crucially, grow and stay in the UK .
Regional and inclusive growth
Beyond high-growth tech, the strategy emphasises regional equity and financial inclusion. The plan includes the delivery of 85,000 new Start Up Loans and a commitment of £150million to Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) to support underserved groups.
To ensure the benefits of this capital are felt outside of London, the Bank will establish two new regional investment funds dedicated to the East and South-East of England, alongside support for regional angel networks and innovation clusters.
Economic impact by 2030
The Bank projects that its planned activity over the next five years will fund around 180,000 businesses and support the creation of approximately 370,000 new jobs. In total, the strategy is expected to deliver £68billion of benefit to the UK economy.
To achieve these ambitious targets, the BBB is also reforming its own operations. The plan outlines a modernisation of its governance and operating model to streamline internal processes, allowing for faster investment decisions and greater flexibility in how it operates.
Louis Taylor, CEO of the British Business Bank, summarised the ambition for 2030: “A more dynamic and inclusive finance ecosystem, where innovative and ambitious companies – wherever they are based and whoever leads them – can access the capital they need not only to get started, but to scale, stay, and succeed here in the UK.”
