Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made loan guarantees available to companies operating in the UK but who are registered offshore during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SMEs which are registered abroad are eligible to apply for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), provided the SME is trading in the UK, not just selling into the UK, has the core of its business operations in the UK, and the CBILS Facility is deployed to support business activity in the UK.

The turnover threshold applies to global turnover of the SME or the consolidated group where that applies, but the CBILS scheme can only be used to support UK-based activity.