One problem with CBILS is that, to comply with EU state aid rules, the borrower must not have been an “undertaking in difficulty” on 31 December 2019. The CBILS scheme rules have been relaxed with effect from 30 July for borrowers which “have fewer than 50 employees and a turnover of less than GBP9 million”.
An undated letter from the Treasury to UK Finance refers to “micro and small businesses” which are defined by the EU (in its convenient “Users guide to the SME definition”) as enterprises which (for micro) “employ fewer than 10 persons and whose annual turnover or annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR2 million” and (for small) “employ fewer than 50 persons and whose annual turnover or annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR10 million” - which the UK has translated into GBP9 million. This is of course only for CBILS, not CLBILS, where the minimum turnover is GBP45 million.
and then 