Sheffield-based British Business Bank, the UK government’s economic development bank, has published its Annual Report and Accounts, showing that it supported a total of £9.4 billion of finance for smaller businesses in 2025-26.
£1.3 billion of this was public funding, £4.3 billion was private capital crowded in by the Bank, and £3.7 billion came through lending the Bank guaranteed.
“In 2025/26 the Bank returned a statutory profit before tax of £426m (2024/25: £144m), while creating £8.8bn of additional economic activity over the life of the finance deployed, £5.3bn of which was generated outside London,” said the bank.
“During 2025/26 the Bank has stepped up its strategic ambition, underpinned by more than £25.6bn in financial capacity and enhanced flexibility in deploying capital.
“This strengthened position enables delivery at unprecedented scale, building on a strong foundation to drive future growth with greater pace and impact.”
British Business Bank CEO Louis Taylor said: “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.”
British Business Bank chair Stephen Welton said: “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.