GGS subsidy allowance calculator UK

Why a GGS loan counts as a subsidy

Facilities under the Growth Guarantee Scheme are subsidies, because the government supports them and they give the business an advantage. The business still owes 100% of the debt, and the 70% government guarantee protects the lender.

For businesses outside the scope of the Northern Ireland Protocol, a GGS facility is Minimal Financial Assistance under the UK Subsidy Control Act. For businesses in scope, it is subject to the EU de minimis Regulations. The scheme counts the borrower or, where relevant, its group.

The subsidy is not the loan amount

The value of the subsidy and the amount you borrow are different. A £500,000 GGS loan does not mean £500,000 of subsidy. Your lender works out the subsidy value and tells you, and it asks you to confirm in writing that the facility will not take your business over the limit for a three-year period.

This calculator therefore asks for the subsidy value from your lender. It does not try to work it out from the loan size or the guarantee percentage.

The three-year allowances

Outside the scope of the Northern Ireland Protocol, the maximum subsidy that can be paid to a borrower or its group over three fiscal years through GGS is £315,000.

In scope of the Northern Ireland Protocol, the maximum de minimis aid over three years is £255,000 for all sectors other than those below, £42,500 for primary production of agricultural products and £25,500 for primary production of fishery and aquaculture products.

For businesses outside the scope, a fiscal year runs from 1 April to 31 March, and the three-year period is the current fiscal year and the two before it. In scope, primary producers use the current fiscal year of the business or group and the two before it, and other businesses use the three years before the date of the GGS offer.

What counts as earlier subsidy

Other relevant subsidies granted in the period count against your allowance, and you must tell your lender about them. The British Business Bank lists, for example, Recovery Loan Scheme facilities offered from 1 August 2022, GGS facilities offered from 1 July 2024, local authority grants not issued under a Temporary Framework, and business rates relief as relevant.

Your earlier paperwork should state the value of each subsidy and the rules it was granted under. If you are in doubt, contact the organisation that provided the support. Earlier subsidy can reduce what you can borrow through GGS, potentially to zero.

Worked example

A business outside the Northern Ireland Protocol scope has received £200,000 of relevant subsidy in the period, leaving £115,000 of its £315,000 allowance. Its lender says the new GGS facility has a subsidy value of £50,000, which leaves £65,000.

If the lender's value were £150,000 instead, the facility would exceed the allowance by £35,000, and the amount the business can borrow would be reduced.

How this calculator works

The allowance depends on where the business sits. The calculator subtracts your earlier relevant subsidy and then the lender's subsidy value for the new facility. A negative result means the facility would take the business over its allowance.

It does not decide whether you are in scope of the Northern Ireland Protocol: your lender asks two short questions to work that out. This is an independent tool, not run or endorsed by the British Business Bank or the UK government, and it does not tell you whether you will be approved. To find a lender, use the British Business Bank's official list of accredited lenders, which you can filter by region and type of finance.

To check the other scheme criteria, use the GGS eligibility calculator.

Based in Northern Ireland? See the Northern Ireland eligibility calculator.

For the full rules, read GGS subsidy limits explained.

Inputs for the GGS subsidy allowance calculator