Small UK businesses call for new repayment terms for Covid loans

Four years after the pandemic, firms say rising costs mean they need longer to pay back money from the government

Jess Christman, who runs a Scottish timber business, recalls that banks were throwing money" at him during the Covid-19 pandemic as Rishi Sunak, then the chancellor, sought to help small companies stave off collapse.

Christman, who runs Black Isle Firewood, near Inverness, which produces firewood and sawn timber and huts for the tourism market, ended up taking out a government-backed loan under the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS).