SME Finance Charter

We’re open for business and ready to lend

We believe in local business. We believe in you!

We think differently about business finance here at BCRS Business Loans.

We are committed to supporting businesses across the West Midlands and Wales that are looking to grow and prosper but have been turned down by traditional lenders. If you don’t tick all of the boxes at other lenders, we are here to help with business loans available from £10,000 to £150,000.

We’ll support your application and signpost other options if needed

Because BCRS Business Loans is a non-profit organisation, we can take a human approach to business finance where we base our decision on you and your business, not a computerised credit score.

We are proud to be a relationship-based lender that offers hands-on support throughout the loan application process. You will be assigned an experienced Lending Manager as your dedicated point of contact, who will guide you through the application process to make it a stress-free experience; allowing you to focus on what you do best – running your business.

As a responsible lender, we will require up-to-date management accounts (including a profit & loss and balance sheet), a 12-month cashflow forecast and the last three years’ accounts (or as long as available if trading less than three years) amongst other information.

In terms of security, a Debenture is taken in all cases, a Personal Guarantee may be required in some circumstances and we can also assess if your application is eligible for the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) guarantee.

However, if for any reason we are unable to support your loan application, it’s not the end of the road. Our experienced team have relationships with a range of funders and will suggest a range of alternative lenders to ensure you get the funding you need to grow and prosper.

We’ll treat you fairly at all times

Not only do we have specific policies in place to treat customers fairly as part of being regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), but it is woven into our culture. Our mission is to:

  • Provide affordable finance.
  • Realise the dreams and aspirations of businesses.
  • Increase our socio-economic impact.
  • Future proof your business and ours.

As a responsible lender, BCRS is committed to treating our customers fairly by personifying the following key principles in all that we do, including:

  • obtaining sufficient information and documentation to ensure that we are confident of the customer’s ability to service and repay the loan
  • ensuring that the information provided by BCRS is adequate for the customer’s needs
  • ensuring that our contracts result in a fair outcome
  • ensure that customers take the product most appropriate to their needs and are declined if no such product is available