Retailers face ‘ticking time bomb’ on government’s coronavirus loans

Businesses that employ tens of thousands of staff and operate hundreds of shops across the UK have told Retail Week they fear being left “stuck in the middle” of the government’s support packages without access to vital funding that could prevent their companies going bust.

Executives from several retailers have warned it could spark “a bloodbath” on Britain’s high streets if chancellor Rishi Sunak does not rethink the loans, worth a total of £330bn, that are being made available to businesses.

Retailers with lower credit ratings fall between the cracks of the government’s financial help packages.

The coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS) is aimed at smaller, “viable” businesses, allowing them to borrow up to £5m interest-free for 12 months.

Companies with larger revenues can apply for the Bank of England’s Covid-19 corporate financing facility (CCFF) but are only open to businesses that have a very high credit rating.

The chasm between those two options has left numerous national chains concerned they will run out of cash while their stores are closed during the coronavirus pandemic.

One chief executive told Retail Week: “There is a huge group of retailers stuck in the middle who won’t qualify for what is vital funding if we are going to get through this.

“It’s a ticking time bomb for businesses like ours. We can’t get the big loan because we don’t have the credit rating, and we are too big a business to apply for the smaller loan. What are we supposed to do?

“Retailers who don’t have a really good credit rating are going to run out of money, it’s as simple as that. The government need to step in – and step in quick.”

Another executive, who leads a homewares business, added: “There will be a bloodbath if retailers like ours cannot apply for these government loans. Hundreds of shops that are closed will not be able to open again.”

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “We continue to work closely with the government on securing urgent financial support for businesses and staff across the retail industry. We have outlined concerns about some retailers slipping between the CBILS and CCFF loan schemes and are working hard to see these resolved on behalf of our members.

“Many retailers are under an enormous financial strain, and without urgent action by the government to help them with cashflow many well-loved brands may not survive the current crisis.”

The situation will impact businesses across the leisure and hospitality sector, as well as retail.

Earlier this week, Pure Gym boss Humphrey Cobbold told the Today programme: “We’re much too large for the new smaller companies’ scheme, but for the larger company scheme you have to have an investment rating to apply.

“We’re actually caught in the middle between both schemes. They’re not really open to us.

“We burn cash at a rate of about £9m-£10m a week, so we have quite a task to drive down that burn rate so we can make our cash and liquidity last as long as we can.”