Business loans: the future is bright
If you run a sustainable business, you could benefit from our sustainability-linked business loans designed specifically for UK SMEs.
Updated: May 2024
Do you run a sustainable business? You may be able to take advantage of Virgin Money’s loans that make borrowing cheaper for sustainable businesses. We are proud to offer sustainability-linked loans in the SME space.
We worked with the Future-Fit Foundation to come up with the methodology behind these new loans. Businesses will have to answer a series of questions, which will assess their current sustainability performance and provide guidance to make further progress. This questionnaire will give businesses an objective assessment of how they’re doing in terms of sustainability.
For customers borrowing at least £250,000 with a sufficiently strong assessment1, the SLLs provided by Virgin Money will have reduced or no arrangement fee2. We have committed that 10% of business lending balances will be to firms driving environmental and social change3.
Scott McFarlane, sustainability lead for Business Bank, Virgin Money, said: “While businesses overwhelmingly recognise the importance of sustainability, it is challenging to translate good intentions into a clear plan and are worried about the cost and time involved in implementing a sustainability change.
“This is why we partnered with Future-Fit Foundation, to help SMEs and other businesses manage and measure sustainability. The Sustainable Business Coach enables us to identify those businesses with capabilities that proactively drive other companies or consumers to create a more sustainable society. The loans will help these companies deliver growth ambitions and help relieve some of the cost pressure. We firmly believe that we, and other banks, have a duty to direct capital responsibly.”
Visit the Sustainable Business Coach to find out more.
[1]SLL scoring framework is determined by the Sustainable Business Coach.
[2]Maximum arrangement fee discount to our normal pricing for a comparable loan is 1.50%.
[3]Where customers’ core goods or services (>50% revenue) drives social or environmental change, determined by ‘Positive Impacts’ contained within the Sustainable Business Coach.
You might also like...
How to manage your mental health as a business owner
Understanding when to release the accelerator and activate the brakes for a bit is key to managing your physical and mental wellbeing as a founder. Here are seven simple ways you can maintain a healthy mind while running a successful business.
The key dates every business owner needs in their diary
Check out our month-by-month calendar of the must-know financial dates in the 2023/24 UK tax year.
How to level up your business cyber security
Cybercrime is one of the fastest growing risks to small businesses – here are some small steps you can take to protect your business according to Virgin Money Information Security expert, Elaine McKechnie.
“Boost your business’s social media presence in ten simple steps”
Looking for new ways to make your business stand out from the crowd on social media? Can’t quite understand why your followers aren’t growing? Social media and digital content expert Pilar Nalwimba reveals ten easy ways to fix that…
The essential guide to mastering your cashflow management
Managing your cashflow can be daunting, especially in the current climate. So, we asked financial journalist, Simon Read to round up the best ways you can manage, monitor and improve your cashflow for business success
Nine marketing tips that will help get your business noticed
Marketing is all about making waves to boost sales. So, we asked marketing expert, Karla McNeilage, founder of Wave Socials to share her helpful hints and top tips so you can transform your business