British Business Bank posts £426m profit on record support

The British Business Bank supported £9.4 billion of finance for smaller businesses in 2025/26 and reported a statutory pre-tax profit of £426 million.

Of that total, £1.3 billion came from public funding, £4.3 billion from private capital mobilised alongside its activity and £3.7 billion through guaranteed lending. The funding reached 38,000 businesses, including about 30,000 that had not previously received support through the bank.

Pre-tax profit rose sharply from £144 million a year earlier and was the bank's highest since 2021/22. Its five-year adjusted return was 3.9%.

Latest impact figures show a strong regional tilt, with 87% of newly supported businesses outside London. The finance is expected to generate more than £100 million of gross value added in every UK nation and region.

Over the life of the finance provided in the year, the bank expects its activity to create 39,000 additional jobs and support 340,000 existing roles. It also forecasts £19.7 billion of additional business turnover and an £8.8 billion increase in UK economic output, including £5.3 billion outside London.

The results come as policymakers continue to focus on improving access to finance for smaller companies and spreading economic growth beyond the capital. The British Business Bank, wholly owned by the UK government, said it has increased its financial capacity and now has a new five-year strategic plan.

Its investment portfolio grew 25% to £5.8 billion, made up of £4.4 billion of equity and £1.5 billion of debt. Guarantee commitments rose 26% to £2.5 billion, including £1.2 billion in structured guarantees and £1.3 billion under the Growth Guarantee Scheme.

The bank also reported £115 million of realised gains in the year, taking its lifetime multiple on invested capital to 2.2x. Underlying operating costs as a proportion of assets under management fell to 1.08%.

Wider reach

The bank said it increased both the scale and geographic reach of its activity during the year. Headquartered in Sheffield, it added that more than half of its workforce is based outside its London office.

"In 2025/26 the British Business Bank stepped up both the size and reach of its investments and deepened its support to strengthen the UK's banking and alternative finance landscape for smaller businesses. The Bank has returned a pre-tax profit of £426m this year, a 3x increase on last year's £144m profit. Our activities in 2025/26 are expected to produce an impact of 39,000 additional jobs and £8.8bn of gross value added over the life of the finance.

With increased capacity for new funded commitments of £2.5bn a year, alongside issuing £2.1bn annually in guarantees, we are building momentum as we continue to invest at record levels and become a more confident, visible presence across the UK's equity and debt finance markets. This year has started strongly," said Louis Taylor, Chief Executive Officer of British Business Bank.

Over the past decade, the bank said its activities have delivered more than £40 billion of gross value added and more than 250,000 additional jobs. It said the latest year shows faster delivery against that longer-term record, with this year's supported finance expected to generate more than twice the average annual gross value added created in its first decade.

Regional focus

"The Bank, headquartered in Sheffield, with more than half of its workforce based outside its London office, is embedded in the communities and markets it supports as a champion of smaller businesses. We are making significant progress driving impact across the Nations and regions of the UK, in the last decade delivering over £40bn of GVA and more than 250,000 additional jobs.

With two clear lines of business, over £25bn in financial capacity and greater flexibility, we are increasing access to finance for thousands of smaller businesses alongside supporting high growth innovative companies with equity investment. At a time when the UK must increase growth in every part of the country the role of the Bank, working closely with key partners on a local basis, is to do just that, targeting by 2030 up to 370,000 new jobs and up to £57bn of additional GVA under our Five-year Strategic Plan. These results show how the Bank is scaling up to deliver that," said Stephen Welton, Chair of the British Business Bank.