Isobel Brett provides comment for Financial Accountant on bounce back loans

Posted By: on 19th March 2024

Isobel Brett was featured in a recent article in Financial Accountant looking at the worrying number of bounce back loans issued to struggling SMEs by the Government, which may never be re-paid or were potentially mis-used.

The article considers the scheme’s advantages such as providing a safety net for businesses who were worried about the impact of COVID-19 but never actually ended up needing to use the funds and those who did use them but re-paid them in good time. It also looks at the downsides which included less than thorough credit checks and the loans being issued very quickly, to businesses that should never have been allowed to receive them.

This in turn led to some loans being deliberately abused by directors, with over 600 disqualifications being issued for mis-use of COVID-19 schemes between April 2022 and June 2023.

It also looks at how accountants can assist businesses with existing bounce back loans and what to do if they are finding it hard to make repayments.

To read the full article, originally published on Financial Accountant’s website click here