£20 million finance facility opened to commercial marine

The British Business Bank is the UK government’s economic development bank established in November 2014. BFS Marine Finance is part of Bibby Financial Services (BFS), a subsidiary of The Bibby Line Group.

Up to £20 million (€23 million) has been earmarked ‘to increase the flow of finance to smaller businesses within the commercial marine sector’ to allow them to buy or refurbish marine assets in various sectors.

Qualifying assets include coastal ships, general workboats, wind farm service craft, survey vessels, charter boats and passenger ferries trading in UK and European waters.

“Marine finance is a sector with strong growth potential in the UK and we are delighted to be supporting BFS Marine Finance in unlocking that growth for smaller businesses within it,” said Jonathan Marriott, senior director, Structured Financial Institutions Solutions, British Business Bank. “Historically, the sector has had a high barrier to entry and a limited number of lenders servicing the market, so we hope this transaction will allow BFS Marine Finance to support more businesses and help drive availability and competition in the process.”

“BFS Marine Finance combines BFS’s financing specialism with Bibby Line Group’s shipping heritage to grow our support for UK businesses,” said Paul Ratcliffe, Managing Director of BFS Marine Finance.

“This transaction will undoubtedly enable us to help UK marine sector businesses grow and thrive, and we look forward to continuing to build a strong relationship with the British Business Bank,” said Andy Stalmanis, Treasurer of Bibby Financial Services.