Mark Neath: Changes to CBILS just reacting to newspaper headlines

Neath believes it is “alarming that changes seem to be reactive to newspaper headlines, rather than well thought through policy decisions”.

Mark Neath: Changes to CBILS just reacting to newspaper headlines

Following the changes to the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) Mark Neath, director of Old Mill believes the government is simply reacting to headlines, rather than making “proper thought out policy decisions.”

Neath said: “It’s certainly a positive step that larger businesses can now access funding, that was an obvious gap in the support on offer, but the government appears to be making announcements in a hurry and then trying to fill in the detail later.”

As a result, this leads to imperfect schemes being released however, Neath believes it is “alarming that changes seem to be reactive to newspaper headlines, rather than well thought through policy decisions”.

Neath explained that while banks receive a notable degree of criticism, they do take a responsible approach to lending.

A point, which is omitted by commentators demanding easier access to borrowing, he added.

Furthermore, he urges any business looking to a CBILS loan to consider whether it is the correct thing to their business.

Addressing businesses, Neath said: “Take all steps possible to minimise the borrowing requirement; and model cash flows in recovery period on a range of scenarios to assess the affordability of repayments”.