£23 million boost for British businesses through referral scheme British businesses are getting more financing to help them expand and create new jobs thanks to government support, new figures show today. From: securing credit to grow is often a barrier for small and medium sized businesses the Bank Referral Scheme has helped over 880 businesses to access the investment they need to grow in the last 12 months funding through the scheme has increased by over a third in the last year to £23 million Since its creation in 2016, the Bank Referral Scheme (BRS) has helped hundreds of small and medium-sized businesses to access finance after they were turned down by their bank. New figures out today show that over the past 12 months, 889 businesses have raised more than £23 million through the Scheme, which matches them with alternative sources of finance such as revolving credit and asset finance. This is a significant increase on the previous year and the initiative, introduced four years ago, has now raised £56 million for businesses all over the UK.