New €30m SBCI-backed finance fund for Irish SMEs announced by Bibby Financial Services
SBCI and Bibby Financial Services announce new €30m finance fund for Irish SMEs
The Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI), the State’s promotional financial institution, and business lender Bibby Financial Services Ireland have announced a new €30 million fund to help Irish SMEs manage their cash-flow.
The new fund brings the SBCI’s lending partnership with Bibby Financial Services to €100 million, with over €70 million deployed by this partnership in support of hundreds of Irish SMEs across multiple sectors since 2016.
The latest €30 million facility will allow Bibby Financial Services to provide additional invoice finance facilities to even more Irish SMEs, allowing them to use their trade debtors and invoice pipeline as a flexible and SME-friendly source of working capital.
Bibby Financial Services is the SBCI’s exclusive invoice finance liquidity partner. It helps SMEs to access faster, more flexible, and more affordable working capital.
This support has enabled SMEs to develop stronger cash-flow, greater resilience, and renewed capacity to invest, grow, and create jobs.
Key features
The €30 million facility being announced today will allow Bibby Financial Services to offer:
- Up to €5 million for individual SMEs that are eligible to use the facility, with a minimum facility period of 24 months
- Competitive pricing with up to 1.3% discount from the standard facility rates offered by Bibby Financial Services
- Tailored invoice finance solutions that unlock cash tied up in pipeline invoices, allowing businesses to reinvest immediately
- Flexible funding that will help SMEs to navigate economic challenges, invest in growth opportunities, and sustain local employment
June Butler, SBCI CEO, said: “This new €30 million facility, which brings our total funding through Bibby Financial Services Ireland to €100 million, marks a significant milestone in our support for Irish businesses.
Since 2016, our partnership with Bibby Financial Services has helped hundreds of businesses across Ireland access affordable working capital when they’ve needed it most, supporting growth, enabling innovation and sustainability, and protecting jobs.
This latest facility will ensure even more businesses can strengthen their cash-flow and seize opportunities for the future.”
Paschal Donohoe, Minister for Finance, said: “I welcome this most recent transaction by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) to increase by €30 million, its liquidity funding line to Bibby Financial Services Ireland.
SMEs play a critical role in the Irish economy, creating employment and economic prosperity. It is essential that there is strong supply of competitively priced liquidity, available to SMEs.
This new €30 million fund will enable Bibby Financial Services to deploy a flexible funding solution to more Irish SMEs than was previously possible.
This fund will also allow SMEs to avail of more competitive pricing on facilities.
The combined effect will assist SMEs to strengthen their cashflow situation; providing them with more working capital to invest and achieve their growth plans over the next few years”.
Mark O’Rourke, Bibby Financial Services Ireland Managing Director, said: “This is a truly significant milestone for the partnership between Bibby Financial Services and the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland.
Over the past nine years, we have worked hand in hand in hand with the SBCI to help businesses right across the country to access funding to enable a range of scenarios, and despite current geopolitical challenges, our recent ‘SME Confidence Tracker’ survey shows that nine in ten SMEs are planning to invest in the coming months.
Today’s announcement with the SBCI will allow us to continue working with SMEs – the backbone of the Irish economy – for many years to come to ensure they have funding solutions they need, such as invoice finance, to unlock working capital and pursue ambitious growth plans for the rest of 2025 and beyond.”
