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British Business Investments makes £15m Tier 2 capital facility available to PCF Bank

Press release 30 October 2019

British Business Investments (BBI), a commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank, has announced a new £15m Tier 2 capital facility to specialist bank, PCF Bank.

PCF Bank has a long history as a specialist financier of vehicles, plant and equipment. Established in 1994, and launching banking services in 2017, PCF Bank has helped more than 18,000 customers with purchasing business critical assets for their businesses.

The facility will enable the Bank to draw on additional capital as required, allowing it to utilise capital in an efficient and earnings enhancing manner as the business grows. This investment could support up to an additional £125m of asset-based lending to UK smaller businesses.

The £15m capital investment is a Tier 2 capital facility provided through BBI’s Investment Programme, which is designed to increase the supply and diversity of finance for smaller businesses by boosting the lending capacity of challenger banks and non-bank lenders. Since it launched in 2013, the Investment Programme has committed over £900m to providers of finance to UK smaller businesses.

This commitment to PCF Bank supports British Business Investments’ objective to increase the diversity of supply of business finance. Banks like PCF help diversify the finance market, and in turn contribute to more choices for smaller businesses across the UK.

Catherine Lewis La Torre CEO of British Business Investments

PCF has been helping UK SMEs purchase the assets they need for over 20 years. Since launching as a bank in 2017 we have been able to increase the size of our lending book driving profitability in a sustainable way. This facility from British Business Investments will allow us to continue to grow and support the UK private sector.

Scott Maybury CEO of PCF Bank

The Investment Programme unlocks increased development capital to speciality lenders and challenger banks serving smaller businesses and enables BBI to support the development of diverse finance markets.

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. Neither British Business Bank nor its principal operating subsidiaries are 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.

The funding from British Business Investments into PCF Bank does not amount to any endorsement or warranty from British Business Investments, the British Business Bank plc, or the government of the UK.

About PCF Bank

Established in 1994, PCF Group plc is the AIM-listed parent of specialist bank, PCF Bank Limited. Since commencing operations as a bank in 2017, the Group has increased its lending portfolio significantly, targeting an initial portfolio of £350 million and growing to a £750 million portfolio by 2022. The Group will retain its focus on portfolio quality, lending increasingly to the prime segment of its existing finance markets. The Group has also recently diversified its lending products and asset classes through acquisition and by setting up new organic operations.

PCF Bank currently offers retail savings products for individuals and then deploys those funds through its four lending divisions:

  • Business Finance which provides finance for vehicles, plant and equipment to SMEs;
  • Consumer Finance which provides finance for motor vehicles to consumers;
  • Azule Limited which provides finance to the broadcast and media industry; and
  • Bridging Property Finance which provides loans to companies and sole traders investing in residential property

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