Shaw & Co has launched a service offering larger SME business clients a discount of up to 70% on its normal fees to help them evaluate their options and navigate them through their application for financial support from the Government’s recently announced Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS).

CLBILS was announced by the Chancellor on 2 April to help businesses during the interruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is similar to the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) announced on 11 March but aimed at larger enterprises with annual turnover exceeding £45m. Final details of the scheme were announced this Friday 17 April.

The new scheme can provide facilities of up to £25m for UK businesses with a turnover between £45m and £250m. For even larger businesses with annual turnover between £250m and £500m, the scheme provides a maximum loan of £50m.

Shaw & Co has rapidly developed a dedicated CLBILS Support Service with the knowledge that many large businesses will not have the time or resources to apply for support via CLBILS.

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The CLBILS process is built around the framework of the smaller CBIL Scheme, which is in turn based on the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme (EFG), both of which we have significant experience. We have been asked by several clients to support them during these unprecedented times and we are delighted to do so. "

Jim Shaw
Founder & CEO of Shaw & Co

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Shaw added: We are already seeing varying, and often limited, appetites from the 40+ accredited lenders under the CBIL Scheme to administer emergency funds to businesses. This is largely due to the current structure of the Government guarantees which still leave the lenders exposed. It is also clear that the application requirements will be onerous with lenders demanding financial forecasts and business plans at a time many SMEs don’t have the capacity to produce these intricate documents.

As well as generally heightened anxiety among SMEs, business owners are also reticent in exposing their business vulnerabilities to their banks for fear of contaminating the overall relationship and other lending lines. The ghost of 2008 roams free.”

Because the Scheme only covers up to 80% of the bank’s exposure, Shaw & Co expects lenders to undergo a full credit process, this is especially the case with larger loans amounts under CLBILS. Building a credit case in uncertain conditions takes an intimate understanding of the lenders requirements and our team have been working hard to establish these parameters on behalf of clients.

Shaw continued: “As active practitioners in the SME funding space, we understand in detail the challenges more technical aspects of the CLBILS presents, but we are determined to help borrower and lender navigate these issues so that much needed funds can be provided to SMEs to support them in a time of need.”

However, Shaw & Co recognises the profound strains SMEs and owner / managers are under during this crisis.

Shaw concluded: ”My Partners and I have therefore taken the decision to help alleviate this unprecedented situation by offering clients the benefits of our years of experience and expertise, together with our longstanding relationships with lenders – at a significantly discounted rate to our usual advisory fees, of up to 70%. We truly believe that we can get through these times together and that, as we have always said, we are here for our clients and want our relationships to remain close and very much for the longer-term.”

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