Guidance
General Export Facility
Find out about our General Export Facility: its benefits, eligibility criteria and how to apply.
Change of https://www.gov.uk/guidance/general-export-facility
Change description : 2025-10-02 13:58:00: HSBC contact details updated [Guidance and regulation]
Showing diff : 2025-09-08 09:35:58.896111596 +00:00..2025-10-02 12:58:42.902974644 +00:00
Find out about our General Export Facility: its benefits, eligibility criteria and how to apply.
Our General Export Facility (GEF) provides partial guarantees to banks to help UK exporters to gain access to trade finance facilities. Through GEF, we can support the following facility types, with maximum repayment terms of up to 5 years:
GEF is able to support facilities valued up to around £25 million. For facilities with values over £25 million, contact your local Export Finance Manager as one of UKEF’s other schemes may be suitable.
The benefits of GEF for UK exporters include:
more flexibility – the availability of UKEF’s guarantee helps UK exporters to negotiate more flexible trade finance facilities with participating banks. In turn, these facilities can provide or unlock more working capital to support the growth of UK exporting businesses
greater certainty – in contrast to some of UKEF’s other schemes, with GEF UK exporters do not need to evidence any individual export contracts. Putting non-contract specific facilities in place will allow UK exporters to focus on their overall growth without worrying as to whether an export opportunity will be deemed supportable or not
improved accessibility – UKEF has provided delegated authority to participating banks of up to £10 million per UK exporter. Whenever an application for GEF support meets certain criteria, UKEF’s guarantee will be automatically granted to the participating bank which therefore minimises application response times. The general nature of GEF will also appeal to exporters who do not routinely enter into large, single export contracts
In order to access the scheme, you must satisfy the bank’s and UKEF’s criteria. One of the key requirements is that the exporter must be able to declare:
Or:
Additionally, the exporter must be able to declare:
And/or:
Find out more about the criteria UKEF uses to assess eligibility for the General Export Facility if your organisation is involved in the fossil fuel sector and is looking to transition into clean energy.
The guaranteed bank pays UKEF a guarantee fee. This fee is a proportion of the interest margin paid by the UK exporter to the bank for providing the facility.
To access GEF, exporters should discuss their potential application with their bank or another lender. There are currently twelvethirteen participating lenders:
UKEF is keen to expand the range of its partners.
To find out more about our General Export Facility or to discuss eligibility for our support, contact our customer services team.
Contact customer.service@ukexportfinance.gov.uk or call +44 (0)20 7271 8010.
Contact your bank for further guidance.
| Lender | Contact | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABC International Bank PLC | Mark Donald | +44 7435 613 928 | Mark.Donald@BANK-ABC.COM |
| ABN AMRO | Liam |
N/A | liam.jolliff@uk.abnamro.com |
| Barclays UK | Paul Bowman | N/A | paul.bowman3@barclays.com |
| Banco Santander, S.A. | Export and Agency Finance UK | EAFUK@santandercib.co.uk | |
| Barclays International | Emma Robinson | N/A | emma.robinson3@barclays.com |
| James Guthrie | N/A | james.guthrie@barclays.com | |
| ICICI Bank UK PLC | Vaibhav Srivastava | uk.trade@icicibank.com | |
| Akhil Gupta | uk.trade@icicibank.com | ||
| Danske Bank | Bernie Kerr | 07740638480 | bernadette.kerr@danskebank.co.uk |
| HSBC UK Bank Plc | N/A | ||
| N/A | |||
| Barry Millar |
N/A | barry.millar@hsbc.com | |
| KBC Bank NV, London Branch | Owen Long (Corporate Banking) | N/A | owen.long@kbc.be |
| Richard Whitehead (Corporate Banking) | N/A | richard.whitehead@kbc.be | |
| Lloyds Banking Group/Bank of Scotland Plc | Trade Finance | N/A | TradeFinance@lloydsbanking.com |
| National Westminster Bank Plc | Chris Duggan, SolutionsLine Team | 0800 2100235 | internationalbanking@natwest.com |
| The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc | Chris Duggan, SolutionsLine Team | 0800 2100235 | internationalbanking@rbs.co.uk |
| Santander UK Plc | Trade and Supplier Finance | N/A | tradeandsupplierfinanceproduct@santander.co.uk |
| Virgin Money | Simon Hayden, Trade Finance Manager | 07831 318295 | simon.hayden@cybg.com |
UKEF is looking to expand the range of approved lenders operating GEF. Although this guarantee scheme is well-suited to supporting trade finance facilities, the flexibilities of GEF are likely to be relevant to a range of financial institutions – whether they have dedicated trade finance divisions or not.
Find out more about UKEF’s approach to onboarding new partner institutions. Lenders interested in GEF should contact our customer services team. Email customer.service@ukexportfinance.gov.uk or call +44 (0)20 7271 8010.
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HSBC contact details updated
ICICI Bank UK PLC added to lenders
References to Newable Business Loans Ltd removed from page
Updated to include information on new lender, ABC International Bank PLC and updated contact for Barclays International
Danske Bank has been added as an approved lender. The relevant contact details for Danske Bank have been uploaded.
KBC Bank NV, London Branch added and corresponding contact details.
Emirates NBD removed as approved lender and replaced with DNB (UK) Limited.
Amount changed in UKEF delegated authority - 'now up to £10 million per exporter'
Contact details for Newable Business Loans Limited has been updated.
Emirates NBD added as a lender and Emirates NBD contact details listed.
ABN AMRO added as approved lender.
Barclays contact details updated.
Added Virgin Money to 'Contact details for approved lenders' list.
HSBC Contact Jill Hauge replaced with Barry Millar.
Added guidance for companies in the fossil fuel sector looking to transition to clean energy.
First published.
2025-10-02 13:58
HSBC contact details updated
2025-09-08 10:35
ICICI Bank UK PLC added to lenders
2025-06-09 17:13
References to Newable Business Loans Ltd removed from page
2025-03-07 15:59
Updated to include information on new lender, ABC International Bank PLC and updated contact for Barclays International
2024-11-08 10:11
Danske Bank has been added as an approved lender. The relevant contact details for Danske Bank have been uploaded.
2024-07-31 12:15
KBC Bank NV, London Branch added and corresponding contact details.
2024-04-10 10:47
Emirates NBD removed as approved lender and replaced with DNB (UK) Limited.
2024-03-25 09:37
Amount changed in UKEF delegated authority – ‘now up to £10 million per exporter’
2024-01-29 12:58
Contact details for Newable Business Loans Limited has been updated.
2023-10-23 17:45
Emirates NBD added as a lender and Emirates NBD contact details listed.
2023-05-26 12:19
ABN AMRO added as approved lender.
2022-07-29 13:49
Barclays contact details updated.
2022-07-19 16:55
Added Virgin Money to ‘Contact details for approved lenders’ list.
2022-06-14 17:58
HSBC Contact Jill Hauge replaced with Barry Millar.
2022-03-25 15:34
Added guidance for companies in the fossil fuel sector looking to transition to clean energy.