The Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) will open on Monday 20 April 2020 and the eligibility criteria are as follows:

Your business must:

• be UK-based in its business activity
• have an annual turnover of more than £45 million
• have a borrowing proposal which the lender would consider viable, were it not for the current pandemic, and for which the lender believes the provision of finance will enable the business to trade out of any short-term to medium-term difficulty
• self-certify that it has been adversely impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19)
• not have received a facility under the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF).

It's good to see that the government has increased the maximum value of a facility provided under the CLBILS to £50 million (depending on turnover) and we wait to see whether lenders are able to provide loans under the CLBILS quicker and more effectively than under the CBILS.