Community lender reaches £6m milestone for CIEF investment in jobs and growth
BCRS Business Loans has passed the £6m landmark of lending to generate job creation and economic growth through the Community Investment Enterprise Fund (CIEF).
The Wolverhampton-based company has delivered £6.2m in loans to 75 companies in total, creating 208 jobs and protecting a further 730 roles while generating £32m in added economic value for the West Midlands and Wales. With BCRS Business Loans focussing on firms under-represented in traditional lending, 31 per cent of the SMEs were female-led.
The CIEF was launched last year and backed by Lloyds, the first mainstream lender at scale to finance loans for delivery via socially motivated Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) such as BCRS Business Loans.
The £62m CIEF, managed by responsible finance provider Social Investment Scotland (SIS), offers investment to businesses unable to access finance from traditional sources. BCRS Business Loans supports the CIEF delivery in the West Midlands and Wales by providing secure loans between £25,000 and £250,000 to enable growth and recovery plans.
Among those to benefit from CIEF funding was Orange Moon Training, a specialist training provider for childcare and education professionals.
Director Barrington Oliver-Mighten said: “The funding from BCRS Business Loans will enable us to deliver on our strategy to grow our business through delivering quality services in more efficient ways.
“We can position ourselves as an innovative training provider by making use of technology such as e-learning platforms.
“We were recommended to speak to BCRS Business Loans through another business loan provider, our neighbour First Enterprise. BCRS Business Loans were very thorough and we were given good support throughout the application process which helped secure the amount we needed.”
BCRS Business Loans chief executive Stephen Deakin said: “Reaching £6m in lending shows the growing impact we are achieving through the CIEF.
“The entire BCRS Business Loans team has been dedicated to maximising the CIEF's reach, empowering firms to scale up, making strategic investments and creating job opportunities during these complex economic times.”
The latest CIEF aims to invest in 800 small firms nationally and support 10,500 jobs by using the funds from Lloyds and social impact investor Better Society Capital plus the three CDFIs taking part, BCRS Business Loans, Business Enterprise Fund and Finance for Enterprise.
The fund for small businesses based in economically disadvantaged areas follows a successful first CIEF, for which BCRS Business Loans delivered loans. The CIEF is managed by CDFI Social Investment Scotland, which has been investing in the social sector since 2001.
Working to its goal of ensuring no viable business goes unsupported, BCRS Business Loans is a fund manager for the small funds pot of the first £130m Investment Fund for Wales and for the Midlands Engine Investment Fund II, which will deliver a £400m commitment of new funding for businesses across the Midlands.
Having launched in 2002, BCRS Business Loans has now passed £100 million in total lending to businesses, generating overall £518 million in economic impact. Up to the end of April 2025, BCRS Business Loans supported 1,594 businesses that were unable to access traditional finance, creating over 5,900 jobs and safeguarding 11,779 existing roles.
BCRS Business Loans recently achieved one of its best years ever, providing £9,900,502 to 124 businesses during the 2024-25 financial year, a 68 per cent increase in the number of SMEs supported compared to the previous year.
The lending resulted in the safeguarding of 889 jobs and creation of 317 roles while adding £51.2m to the economy of the West Midlands, surrounding region and Wales. Of the funding, 34.6 per cent went to the UK’s most disadvantaged areas.
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Pictured: The BCRS Business Loans team is celebrating passing the £6m CIEF landmark
