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Rachel Reeves is to announce plans to help small businesses grow, in what is likely to be one of her last acts as chancellor. Reeves will announce expanded financial support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in her swansong Mansion House speech on Tuesday. The flagship measure is the expansion of a government guarantee on commercial loans for SMEs, aimed at helping British businesses borrow money to help them grow their operations. The Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS) provides a 70% guarantee by the government on loans to small businesses, cutting the risk of lending to SMEs. It has provided more than £3.7 billion to SMEs since it was launched in 2022. The chancellor’s plans will provide a £6.5 billion uplift to the GGS, which the British Business Bank estimates will help 33,000 businesses across the UK over the coming three years. The term length for loans is also being extended from six to ten years, and businesses with a turnover of as much as £54 million will be able to apply for the scheme, up from those with a £45 million turnover. Reeves said: ‘Our plan for the economy has put Britain on a stronger footing restoring stability, getting investment flowing, and delivering reform. ‘We know that small businesses are the backbone of this economy and growth in all our regions, and for too long they have heard ’no’ when trying to raise the funds they need to grow and create jobs across the UK. ‘When they succeed, we all succeed, and today’s major reforare the most significant step in years to unleash their potential.’ Reeves has conceded she will no longer be chancellor when Andy Burnham takes over as prime minister, as appears all but guaranteed. Burnham, who emerged as the only candidate in Labour’s leadership contest to succeed Sir Keir Starmer, could become prime minister as soon as July 20. Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, are among the names being floated among MPs as a possible successor to Reeves. The chancellor will also announce new financial support for businesses to export their goods and services abroad in her Mansion House speech. Business Secretary Peter Kyle said: ‘Today we’re putting our weight behind Britain’s entrepreneurs and innovators, unlocking billions in additional lending to help thousands more small businesses start, scale and succeed because access to finance should never be the barrier between a good idea becoming a great British business.’ Louis Taylor, chief executive, of the British Business Bank, said: ‘This growth package is great news for smaller businesses across the UK. ‘The British Business Bank’s growth guarantee scheme has a strong track record of enabling business growth, and the additional capacity and greater flexibility provided will help even more businesses, including those served by community lenders, to invest, grow and create additional jobs. ‘It is great to be collaborating with UK Export Finance to help smaller businesses to export. ‘This has the potential to transform UK economic performance and international competitiveness. ‘Both these schemes, alongside the additional support for IP-rich businesses, will make a real difference on the ground, providing the finance needed for UK smaller businesses to realise their full potential.’ The Tories claimed Reeves ‘has done untold damage to small businesses’. Shadow Treasury minister Richard Fuller added: ‘Her national insurance hike and her business rates betrayal have sent costs soaring for small businesses, while Angela Rayner’s employer red tape and Ed Miliband’s net-zero zealotry have piled on further misery. ‘The funding announced today pales in comparison to the financial cliff edge so many firface thanks to Labour. The Conservatives are the only party that will back small business by scrapping business rates for thousands of pubs, shops and restaurants on our high streets, delivery a stronger economy and stronger country.’ By David Lynch, Press Association Political Correspondent source: PA Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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