British Business Bank Bewertungen 

Unfortunately, my experience with the Startup Loan process was extremely disappointing. I wish I had read these reviews from the start, I would have done things so differently and definitely wouldn’t have applied with them in the first please.

Whilst I understand that not every application will be approved, my main issue was the length of time the process took. After waiting over 18 weeks, I was ultimately declined, despite later being informed that delays had occurred before my application was even fully reviewed.

As a business owner, long periods of uncertainty can have a major impact on planning, finances, and decision-making. Had I received this outcome much earlier, I could have explored alternative options far sooner rather than remaining in limbo for months.

I appreciate the adviser’s (Petra) apology and understand that the final decision rests with the credit team, but I do feel the process and timeframe could have been handled much better. A few weeks into the process, Petra advised me that I should expect the money within approximately one to two weeks. Unfortunately, over 15 weeks later, I was still awaiting a final decision and continuing to rely on that expectation when planning my business finances and next steps.
I’m leaving this review simply so other small business owners are aware that delays of this length are possible and to encourage clearer communication and faster decision-making for future applicants.

I wouldn’t recommend this service to anyone because this experience could have seriously affected one’s life.

Avoid this time waster company!

They did not accept my bank statements as bank issued them like surname/name and they said it should be name/surname !!! The bank corrected it and gave me black and white prints, when I sent it to them they said we don't accept black and white statements !!! Then when I got the coloured one and uploaded then they said your application has run out and you need to apply again !!!!! I was disgusted by this company and decided to give up and rate them one which is in fact zero and I say do not waste your time even one second with this company.

Absolutely awful, deleted my application twice whilst under review violated GDPR rules by trying to submit a third credit check with an incorrect address. Really shady stuff going on, will not recommend if you can get funding from literally anywhere else.

Possibly one of the worst experiences as a start up company within its first two years. Delays, ignoring issues, asking for irrelevant information, miles of endless red tape, poor communication, jumping through hoops, copying information from one form into another, ridiculous requests for new entrepreneurs who are working every second of every day - adding pressure to those already under tons of pressure. Not to mention poor understanding of business and processes by its “partners”.

really poor. clunky systems, dont bother unless you have other options. its labelled as government backed support but its more a last resort if you cant get finance elsewhere

Waited for around five months
Possibly the poorest communication I have ever encountered, they waited so long then cancelled my application TWICE after asking my permission for an extension.

AVOID AVOID AVOID, ABSOLUTE TIME WASTERS

Avoid as once contacted and Confidential data provided as required...an amazing amount of unsolicited contact follows...seems form my experiences, data traded.

Very negative. Long wait with no result at the end. Several of my business ideas were used in my town pretty much immediately after submitting my business plan. Seems confidentiality doesn't exit in this company. I'd suggest using a different company.

They don’t seem to lend money directly, like a traditional bank. To obtain a business loan you need to deal with individual organisations who are listed on the platform. The ones that I have tried to deal with are basically expensive moneylenders with lots of requirements.

Wasted a lot of my time. Got nowhere after endless effort.

Petty, entitled investment bankers (in my opinion) who have directly ruined the UK economy through a combination of Covid Loan Fraud, The Carillion Scandal and millions of pounds in misappropriation of funds intended for diverse founders and businesses.

And now to top it all, the BBB are trying to bully individual Trustpilot reviewers into deleting the evidence of their systemic racism and corruption by claiming defamation. Grow up and live in reality please.

If I worked for this organisation and visited this page, I would quit immediately in embarassment and try to make amends with the people you have directly affected with your shameful and pathetic behaviour, instead of trying to delete their reviews.

A tip for the incredibly entitled staff at the British Business Bank would be to improve your actual organisation and its policies instead of trying to play authoritarian of the month and silence the scores of accurate reviews about your organisation and what its ignorant racist staff have done to the UK economy (in my opinion).

Ignore the reviewers claiming that the the Bank is "DEI" or ideologically biased. That's a lame racist lie and is nonsense because minorities are the LEAST FUNDED people in the UK by an enormous margin. The only fund that claims to be 'diverse' funded by the British Business Bank is Ada Ventures, run by two white Oxford grads and after 5 years 55% of its funding went to white founders!

The UK is an openly racist cesspool and the British Business Bank supports the UK's racism, don't let anyone fool you.

Racist and Massive Fraud (in my opinion)

COVID Loan & Carillion frauds.
Endless experiences and evidence of systemic and systematic racism.
A blight of opportunity cost on the UK economy.
Shame.

I’ve just received funding from the British Business Bank through the Start Up Loans programme. The process wasn’t easy at all. I had to submit numerous documents and detailed bookkeeping records to prove my business’s credibility. On top of that, I had to complete their Business Loan Template with forecast figures based on my accounts — which was honestly the toughest part.

Throughout the process, I worked with a business loan advisor who guided me and answered all my questions. He was honest, supportive, and incredibly helpful at every step. Huge thanks to Priyanka for her guidance.

Here are a few tips for anyone thinking of applying for this loan:

Stay on top of your accounts- Keep your profit and loss statements updated, and track your sales or sessions if you’re a service-based business.

Prepare a solid business plan- Include accurate figures and realistic projections.

Keep your bank statements clean and consistent- They’ll closely review your cash flow, returned direct debits, and account balance to make sure you can afford monthly repayments. I actually had to pause my application for a month (on Priyanka’s advice) to tidy up my bank records before I could be approved.

Lastly, being an entrepreneur in the UK is tough, the current economic climate and cultural attitude toward risk make it even harder. I’m currently in the process of securing premises for my own practice. It feels almost impossible at times, but you have to believe in it. Deep down, know you’ve already got it- and work toward making it real.

Wishing the best to everyone on this journey.

What a ridiculous waste of Time , It would be quicker to stand at the traffic lights with a cup , than fill out there bureaucratic forms , This is Batshit ,bonkers Britain at its best stay away from them at all costs

If you don't mind completing forms, having a telephone interview, then providing more required information and evidence for many different aspects of your business... again and again and again, and you don't mind being kept in the dark for months while a decision is made, then you might benefit from this bank. It is extremely difficult working with this bank. After being asked for more and more, which I provided, and waiting for over a month even though I have a very good credit rating, I gave up on this bank. Conversely, MBNA offered a flexible loan at a lower rate than British Business Bank within 15 minutes. I only wanted to use British Business Bank due to there being business mentor support, but somehow I no longer want a mentor from this bank.

Applied in March filled out many numerous documents, spent many phone calls will a advisors. Today Monday 30th of June. I receive a email saying my application has passed the 90 days and they have cancelled it and I need to re apply again as it's taken them too long to make a decision lol what a joke.

A compete and utter waste of your time!
Spent 9 weeks YES 9 WEEKS! of my life on this spent hours filling in there template. Constant running back and forth with endless requests of paper work changed the name on my bank at their request! To pass all checks to get sent to a business advisor and I will use that word business advisor very very loosely! Who questioned was it a start up business. To which it was a new business just opened a limited company, new name, new premises, different sales etc new everything to be rejected as they said it was similar to the business I already had. Never was this outlined from the start in different business types and if you already had a business you couldn't loan to start a new business. Totally useless and a complete waste of my time which in the end cost me money and more importantly time! This is people's lives money and family they are playing with it needs to be taken more serious and regulated alot more. These company's need to be seen as willing to lend and they are until they find a loop hole not to lend so when the figures come in it looks like they have had alot of applicants but only passed a few due to these none sense issues.

Avoid if you can and don't linger on it I wish I had of looked at the reviews before I invested so much of my time and effort into this.

What a frustrating experience. Over three weeks of back-and-forth, countless forms, endless proof, and a mountain of documentation, only to be rejected with zero explanation.

Most lenders can give you an answer the same day with a simple soft search, but not here. Instead, you’re left chasing answers and risking a hard search on your credit file.

To top it off, the rates aren’t even that great. Save yourself the time and hassle—there are plenty of better lenders out there who actually value your time.

I’d give it zero stars if I could. Sent in all information requested at pre- approval application. Then was asked to provide more detailed information, much of it repeated from the pre-application. Spent considerable time filling in their template and providing significant personal financial information. Emailed it off, only to be told they don’t do loans unless you own 50% of the business. A complete waste of time. They also sent hyperlinks for their privacy policy which didn’t work, I asked for it to be emailed, still didn’t appear. I asked for assurances that non of my information would be passed on, they wouldn’t give this assurance and kept referring me to the privacy policy which I couldn’t access. Unbelievable inept.

Agree with almost everyone here, I had an absolutely terrible experience with the British Business Bank applying for a startup loan. Took my time to fill in the templates what followed was incessant requests for duplicate information, constant delays and a complete waste of my time