Paragon Bank has offered more than £31m ($41.8m) in funding to more than 200 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through the British Business Bank’s Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS).
This initiative, part of the UK Government’s broader support for British enterprise, has allowed Paragon to extend financial support to businesses across various sectors, including agriculture, construction, manufacturing and transport.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Paragon said the scheme’s impact has been “significant”, allowing it to facilitate business investments that would likely have been unfeasible without this support.
The GGS offers unsecured loans and asset-based finance, with the volume of lending and the number of businesses supported growing daily.
The scheme is set to run until March 2026, offering Paragon insights to inform future credit appetite and broaden its customer reach.
Earlier this month, the government announced an additional £10.3bn in funding for the British Business Bank, including £500m in extra lending capacity for the GGS.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataParagon continues to collaborate with the British Business Bank to allocate more GGS funding, supporting both existing and new customers.
Paragon Bank’s SME lending deputy managing director Phil Hughes said: “The Growth Guarantee Scheme has been a powerful tool and resounding success in helping us extend more support to ambitious UK businesses who need it.
“We have already seen what a difference it can make in unlocking funding, especially for sectors vital to the economy and productivity, such as construction and agriculture, where upfront investment can be a major barrier. The early success and scale of demand speak volumes – and with the right backing, we are ready to do even more.”
In the first half of its fiscal year, Paragon noted a 7.3% rise in new loans within its SME lending sector.
For the six months ending 31 March 2025, the bank recorded £247m in SME lending loans, up from £230.2m in the same timeframe the previous year.
Asset finance, a core element of the division, grew by 11.1% to £169.9m, outperforming the market average growth of 6.4%.
