Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what data his Department holds on lending approval rates for SMEs applying for finance to invest in (a) technology, (b) commercial premises and (c) workforce training since 2022.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Earlier this year, DBT launched a call for evidence on access to finance to better understand the barriers that SMEs experience when applying for loans. However, currently available results from the SME Finance Monitor provides the following data on SMEs needing funding for R&D and new premises:
Source: SME Finance Monitor 2024 and 2022
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of trends in the level of tiered lending rate structures in SME finance products offered by UK-regulated banks since 2022.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Tiered interest rates relate to retail deposits and personal loans, not commercial finance.
Bank of England data shows that interest rates on lending by banks to UK SMEs are as follows:
In March 2025, effective interest rates for new SME loans were 6.75%
In March 2024, effective interest rates for new SME loans were 7.49%
In March 2023, effective interest rates for new SME loans were 6.36%
In March 2022, effective interest rates for new SME loans were 3.49%
Source: Bank of England
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many companies in the scale-up category have accessed British Business Bank-backed debt finance in the last 24 months.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The British Business Bank publishes performance data on the Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS) on a quarterly basis. Up to 31 December 2024, GGS has been utilised by accredited lenders to enable 13,447 scheme facilities, totalling £2.11 billion. The data is broken down by facility status, lender, nation and region, sector, facility type and size, company size, turnover and age of business, but does not define facilities by scale-up category.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of SMEs in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) Milton Keynes that have secured angel investment in the last 24 months.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Business angels are a significant source of equity investment for start-up and early-stage businesses. Angel investments are typically private arrangements and therefore there is no requirement for them to be publicly reported.
The British Business Bank supports angel investment through its Regional Angels Programme, which helps reduce regional imbalances in access to early-stage equity finance for smaller businesses across the UK. As at March 2024 the Regional Angels Programme has committed £219m and supported 593 businesses.
In late June the British Business Bank will publish its annual Small Business Equity Tracker 2025. The report will include an analysis of the UK Business Angel Market and will also provide detail on equity deals in the South East region.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many SMEs located in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) Milton Keynes in receipt of British Business Bank support in the last 12 months also sought finance from high street banks.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade does not hold data relating to businesses also seeking finance from high street banks.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what data his Department holds on the proportion of British Business Bank-backed loans which include personal guarantee requirements from borrowers.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The British Business Bank utilises accredited delivery partners to deliver its schemes. Under the Growth Guarantee Scheme (formerly the Recovery Loan Scheme), delivery partners are required to apply personal guarantees where they would in the course of their normal commercial lending. Under GGS and RLS 3, approximately 70% of facilities have been recorded by the lender as having a personal guarantee attached.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of foreign direct investment screening mechanisms on UK economic sovereignty.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK balances an open investment environment to facilitate growth while protecting the areas of our economy that are the most sensitive to national security. The National Security and Investment Act supports our economic sovereignty by giving us power to intervene where we need to, while allowing the vast majority of inward investment to proceed.
The NSI Act was inspired by, and brought the UK’s approach to investment screening in line with, many other countries, including our close allies. The Act is a product of close international cooperation to ensure the UK’s investment screening regime draws on global best practice.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to promote exports from (a) defence and (b) aerospace manufacturers.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
DBT works with defence and aerospace companies to open markets, tackle trade disputes, provide SME support, and connect business to export opportunities.
Through the Aerospace Growth Partnership and Aerospace Technology Institute programme we support industry to increase supply chain productivity, competitiveness, innovation and exports. In defence, we work with industry to develop campaigns which pursue a ten-year pipeline of global opportunities. In 2023 the UK won £14.5bn defence orders; and in 2024 exported £23bn of domestically produced aerospace goods.
The Industrial Strategy will set out our further support for these sectors.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to help improve the representation of women in senior leadership positions within large (a) public and (b) private companies.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Promoting equal opportunities for women is a key part of this Government's Plan for Change, ensuring fair access to the best jobs. To that end, the Department for Business and Trade sponsors the FTSE Women Leaders Review, which collaborates with the UK's top public and private companies to achieve at least 40% representation of women on boards and at senior management levels.
The 2025 report evidences real progress in representation of women leaders across the top of UK businesses. The Government will continue to work with UK business and the Review to ensure the continuation of this promising momentum.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how the Office for Investment will assess the potential impact of foreign direct investment on domestic businesses in key sectors.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Investment is at the heart of the government’s growth mission, increasing the number of good, well-skilled jobs and improving productivity across the country. Foreign direct investment is one part of this and can support domestic businesses directly through supply chains and indirectly through spillover benefits. The new Office for Investment will work closely with all businesses to increase facilitation of investment from UK and overseas businesses.
Previous research in 2021 by DBT found that on average a £1 million FDI project into Great Britain leads to a net increase in national levels of GVA of around £98,000 and a net increase in employment.