business plan writing service uk

A BESPOKE AND PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS PLAN WRITING SERVICE FOR NEW AND ESTABLISHED BUSINESS OWNERS

Our specialist service includes:.

• All necessary content written for your business plan
• Comprehensive financial forecasts and projections
• A range of business plan solutions to choose from
• Additional business advice and guidance if needed

Business Plan Writer HQ | Business Plan Writer

Business plan solutions.

If you need a business plan to finance your business, or to expand your current operations, here’s how our business plan writers can help…

Business Plan Experts

Our business plan writers have helped every kind of business: entrepreneurs, start-ups, established companies to large corporations…

Business Plan Success

Our professional business plans have helped clients secure from as little as £10,000 to over £10 million in investment…

Our team of hand-picked UK business plan writers have been writing business plans for over 10 years. Every business plan writer here at the Business Plan Writer HQ are highly respected financial analysts, marketing experts and entrepreneurs – all with many years’ experience of writing ‘funder friendly’ business plans. 

Therefore you can be assured that the advice, guidance and support you receive from our team has been borne from our own experiences of what it really takes to run a business – and more importantly – from having written many hundreds of successful and bespoke business plans across many different industry sectors., start up business plan package, pro business plan package, elite business plan package, feedback on our business plan writers.

• Business Startup Consultants
• Business Plan Writers
• Business Mentoring
• Business Growth Consultants
• Customer Case Studies
• Free Business Plan Template

Fast & Affordable Business Plan Writers

We can help you start your business, secure investment, get a startup loan or a visa..

SGI Consultants are experienced professional business plan writers who write high-quality, bespoke business plans to help you attract investors, secure a bank loan or obtain approval from landlords or regulatory organisations.

All businesses should have a business plan. It is an essential document that provides a description and framework of your business’s future. Your business plan should explain your business strategy and fundamental goals to get from where you are now to where you want to be.

Most people need help to write a business plan, and most self-written business plans need to be more comprehensive to get funding.

When you work with one of our business plan writers, you will get more than a business plan; you get a complete business service that helps you achieve your goals. Your business plan will be structured using our Business Success Formula, which lays the foundation for your success.

We only write bespoke business plans, written just for your business.  All business plans include market research, competitor analysis and financial projections (P&L, Cash Flow, Balance Sheet, Business Valuation & Break-Even Analysis).

Our business planning service's primary goal is to help you take the next step in your business development.

Whether you need a business plan for:

• A business loan or startup loan
• To secure investment from Angel Investors, VCs or Crowdfunding platforms
• Get endorsement for an Innovator Founder Visa or Global Expansion Worker Visa.
• Send to a landlord or agent to secure a property
• Test the viability of your business.
• To manage your business performance.

Our experienced business plan writers have helped over 1,800 entrepreneurs start and raise funding through our proven business planning process. We maintain an exceptional funding success rate of over 90% because of our meticulous approach rooted in startup best practices.

Professional Business Plan Writing Services

Business plan features.

Custom-Tailored to Your Business

Using a proprietary methodology, each business plan is developed from the ground up, specifically around your unique business model, industry landscape, target customers, and ownership goals. This bespoke approach allows us to focus on your precise needs.

Created by Industry Expert Business Plan Consultants

Our business plan writers and consultants have decades of combined experience across various industries, from technology to manufacturing to consumer goods. We leverage our extensive background in launching and advising startups to craft optimal strategies.

Ongoing Support and Guidance

We continue collaborating long after plan delivery during launch stages, funding discussions, or growth phases. Retain specialists as on-demand strategic advisors regarding pivots, ideas incubation, and due diligence prep.

Proprietary Business Success Framework

Our proven formula identifies strategic pillars present across various thriving modern companies. We instil elements like market viability, differentiated offerings, mitigated risk, and capital efficiency into all documentation.

Financial Models and Projections

Our business plan writers have extensive financial modelling backgrounds. They can build advanced models projecting revenue, costs, and cash flows based on business model specifics, industry metrics, and macroeconomic assumptions over 5-10 years.

• Strategically validate your business viability
• Attract investors and funding faster
• Crystallise your business proposition
• Mitigate risks through expert planning
• Save time trying to write plans yourself
• Focus energy on operations not documentation
• Accelerate your ability to launch and scale

Business Planning Formula

Most successful businesses contain similar attributes. Our business plan writers follow our Business Success Formula on every business plan, ensuring your business plan includes everything you need to make your business successful.

Your business plan will be meticulously rewritten and carefully crafted by our tried-and-true business success formula. This isn't a mere document; it's a strategic roadmap that integrates key principles and proven methodologies to lay a solid foundation for your business. 

Alignment with a Profitable Market (PM)

Your business plan will identify and analyse your target market, ensuring it's ripe for growth and success.

We'll help you uncover the true demand for your product or service, ensuring your market is both accessible and capable of sustaining your business.

Development of an Appealing Product or Service (PS)

We will assist you in articulating the unique value proposition of your offering.

Your product or service will be positioned not only to meet but exceed the expectations of your target audience.

Optimisation of Operational Strategy (Engine Optimization - EO)

Our formula incorporates robust marketing, sales, and operational strategies to create an efficient and profitable engine for your business.

From technological solutions to human capital, we'll help you build the systems that keep your business running smoothly.

Mitigation of External Threats:

Together, we'll identify and prepare for potential challenges from competition, market dynamics, economic factors, political landscape, and technological changes.

Your business plan will include contingency strategies to navigate these complexities.

Integration of Sustainable Growth Plans

Your business will be positioned for long-term success through careful working capital planning, ongoing business analysis, and continuous improvement strategies.

Collaboration and Expert Guidance

Your business plan writer will work closely with you to understand your vision, goals, and unique challenges.

Your business plan will be tailored to your specific needs, reflecting your ambition and aligning with best practices in your industry.

Business Planning Process

Your business plan writer will go through a 7-step process to ensure consistency and a high standard of work. You will work closely with your business plan writer. You can view your plan while it is being written and collaborate. It's a two-way process; you will entirely control the business plan writing process.

• Discover - Our discovery calls reveal ambitions, challenges, and priorities to inform plan direction.
• Research - We thoroughly analyse markets, competition, and trends to uncover growth opportunities. 
• Strategize - Consultants translate research into strategic pillars formed by our proven methodology.
• Model - Financial models, forecasts, and valuation scenarios quantify business potential.
• Validate - We stress-test assumptions and fine-tune positioning for resilience.
• Finalise - Plans optimised to showcase your venture's value propositions.
• Launch - Advisory on pitching, funding sources, and investor discussions to capitalise on planning.

Standard delivery for our business planning services is 21 days. However, if you need it faster, we can complete it by your deadline.  We guarantee our business plans will improve your business model and help you on the road to getting funding for your business. Our business plan writers will not stop working for you until you have reached your goal.

Pricing Aligned to Each Phase of Growth

Our tiered plans and customised packages are designed to provide a comprehensive business plan service matched to your business’s development needs. We recognise every business follows a nonlinear progression - with shifting priorities across planning, funding, operations and expansion. 

That's why we offer business plan solutions tailored to each phase, allowing flexibility to focus on specific business aspects at any given point on your journey. 

The Basic plan is aimed at those seeking pre-seed funding from government startup loans and grant schemes. Our popular Standard Plan provides a comprehensive business plan for loans, landlords, visas and investors. The Premium plan is aimed at companies seeking high growth potential, aiming to impress investors and endorsing bodies. The Elite Plans advisory services provide additional support and guidance to help you reach your goals.

With every engagement, our business plan writers and consultants transfer decades of experience into frameworks personalised for your success, empowering your startup to strategically progress to that critical next level.

Basic Support & Advice

Basic Market Research

Basic Executive Summary

3 Years of Financial Projections

Basic Business Analysis (Risk Analysis, SWOT)

Marketing Plan

Operations Plan

Basic Competitor Analysis

Business Plan Written In Loan Provider Template

Funding Advice / Application Support

Standard Plan

The Standard plan provides comprehensive business plans adapted for worldwide startup and business visa programs, fundraising, investor-ready formatting, detailed marketing and 5-year projections.

Standard Market Research

Heptalysis Executive Summary

5 Years Of Financial Projections

Competitor analysis

Standard Business Analysis (Risk Analysis, SWOT, PESTLE)

Funding Advice / Visa Application Advice

Investor ready format

Premium Plan

The Premium plan offers enhanced research and analysis for startups pitching to top-tier investors and endorsing bodies, with multiple plan versions, valuation, and expert consultation sessions. 

Standard Support & Advice

Advanced Market Research

5 Years Of Financial Projections With Sensitivity Analysis

Detailed marketing plan

Competitor analysis with Porter Five Forces Analysis

Advanced Business Analysis (Risk Analysis, SWOT, PESTLE)

Business Valuation (Pre & Post Money)

Investor-ready format

Investor-ready Pitch Deck

The all-inclusive Elite plan features the highest level of business plan preparation with extensive analysis, scenario models, and dedicated mentorship to position leading startups for Series A funding.

Priority Support & Advice

nvestor-ready format

Multiple Business Plans Based on Funding Scenarios

Post Engagement Support

Business Plan Types We Write

A loan business plan should focus on demonstrating repayment ability, financial management capabilities, and risk mitigation. Project realistic cash flows, include collateral/security details, and outline measures in place to ensure consistent profits.

Investment 

An investment business plan should highlight large market opportunities, key competitive advantages and IP, projections of high returns, and strengths of the leadership team. The goal is to get investors excited about growth potential.

A visa business plan must thoroughly validate your startup's viability and significant growth prospects in the UK market. This includes extensive market research and competitor analysis to demonstrate a clear customer need and gap in the competitive landscape. The plan should also include five years of realistic yet ambitious financial projections for revenue and jobs created. Finally, you must detail how you will invest visa funds into UK growth, including specifics on expenditures over two years and the precise impact on target customer acquisition, product development, hiring projections and other expansion metrics. 

Established Businesses

Existing companies need business plans when entering new growth stages. These plans detail expansion goals, new marketing initiatives, partnerships and hires to support scaling, and updated financials connected to these growth strategies.

Additional Business Planning Services

At SGI Consultants, we offer complementary services to support your business growth and success.

Our experienced consultants and analysts provide expert guidance and support tailored to your needs.

Financial Forecasting and Analysis

Our financial experts can help you create accurate, data-driven financial projections to support your business planning and decision-making. We offer standalone services, including:

Detailed financial modelling and sensitivity analysis

Cash flow forecasting and budgeting

Financial viability and profitability assessments

Scenario planning and risk analysis

Our financial forecasting and analysis services enable you to make informed decisions, optimise your financial performance, and achieve your growth objectives.

Market Research and Competitive Analysis

Understanding your market and competitors is crucial for business success. Our market research and competitive analysis services provide in-depth insights to help you:

Identify and prioritise target customer segments

Assess market size, trends, and growth potential

Analyse competitor strengths, weaknesses, and strategies

Identify opportunities for differentiation and competitive advantage

Develop effective market positioning and go-to-market strategies

With this knowledge, you can make data-driven decisions, refine your business strategy, and build a sustainable competitive edge.

Pitch Deck Design and Development

A compelling pitch deck is essential for securing investment and stakeholder buy-in. Our team can create professional, visually impactful pitch decks communicating your business idea, value proposition, and growth potential. We offer:

Customised pitch deck design aligned with your brand identity

Compelling storytelling and content development

Visualisation of key metrics, milestones, and financial projections

Coaching and support for pitch delivery and investor meetings

With a powerful pitch deck, you can make a lasting impression on investors and stakeholders and increase your chances of success.

Fundraising Strategy and Support

Navigating the fundraising process can be complex and time-consuming. Our fundraising experts can help you develop and execute a comprehensive strategy to secure the capital you need to grow your business.

We provide:

Identification and prioritisation of potential investors

Development of compelling investment materials and proposals

Coaching and support for investor meetings and negotiations

Advice on valuation, deal structure, and terms

Ongoing support and guidance throughout the fundraising process

With our fundraising strategy and support services, you can focus on running your business while we help you secure the investment you need to achieve your goals.

Business Coaching and Mentoring

Starting and growing a business can be challenging, but you don't have to navigate it alone. Our experienced business coaches and mentors provide ongoing guidance and support to help you:

Refine your business strategy and operational plans

Identify and overcome obstacles to growth

Develop effective leadership and management skills

Make data-driven decisions and optimise performance

Build a strong, sustainable business foundation

With our business coaching and mentoring services, you can benefit from the wisdom and experience of successful entrepreneurs and business leaders who are invested in your success.

Visa Application Support for Lawyers

We partner with law firms to provide comprehensive business planning support for clients seeking Innovator Founder or Global Mobility visas to start businesses in the UK. Our expert business plan writers work closely with your legal team to develop plans that meet all visa requirements, including:

Extensive market research and competitor analysis demonstrating apparent demand and market opportunity in the UK

Detailed 5-year financial projections showcasing revenue growth and job creation potential

Strategies for investing visa funds into UK business growth, with specific expenditure plans and anticipated impact on key expansion metrics.

Due Diligence and Growth Planning for Investors, Incubators, and Accelerators

We offer in-depth business planning services for investors, incubators, and accelerators to support your portfolio companies' growth and funding goals. Our team can assist with:

Conducting thorough due diligence on business models, market potential, and financial projections to validate investment opportunities

Developing comprehensive growth strategies and detailed execution plans to guide startups through successful funding rounds and scaling phases.

Creating investor-ready business plans and pitch decks that effectively communicate each venture's unique value proposition and growth potential to secure further investment

By leveraging our business strategy, financial modelling, and investor relations expertise, we help your portfolio companies navigate the startup landscape's complexities and position themselves for long-term success.

Frequently Asked Questions

The three most important purposes of a business plan are:

• To create an effective strategy for growth.
• To determine your future financial needs.
• To secure a loan or attract investors (including angel investors and VC funding) and lenders.

Get a Free Business Plan Consultation

Sign up for a 30-minute session to discuss your business goals with our expert team. We will review your business concept, plans, or existing model to provide strategic advice and next steps.

In this free consultation, we will:

• Learn about your business idea, product or startup
• Assess and analyse your business plan if you have one
• Provide advice on your target market and customers
• Evaluate your business and revenue model
• Suggest improvements to your business strategy
• Identify risks, gaps and areas for better planning
• Recommend priorities and next actions based on business growth best practices

Many entrepreneurs make avoidable mistakes early on or have gaps in their business plans or ideas. Book a session to get an outside look at your business and a professional opinion on improvements to set you up for success.

• Business Development
• Business Funding
• Business Ideas
• Business Plan
• Business Start-up Advice
• Business Start-up Guides
• Business Strategy
• Business Success Formula
• Startups & Entrepreneurship

• Pitch Deck Consulting & Creation
• Pitch Deck Review Service
• Business Plan Writing
• Feasibility Study Consulting

• Meet Our Managing Director
• Our Case Studies

• UK Investor List Database 2024
• Sequoia Pitch Deck Templates

• The Start-up Encyclopaedia
• The Sequoia Model Explained
• UK Startup Funding News

We research and write business plans that get funding

We're the #1 business plan writers and business plan consultants in the UK. We save clients time and stress by building compelling, concise business plans that withstand scrutiny.

For pre-seed, seed & series A funding rounds

Designed around investor expectations

Financials & market research included

We do the work ourselves, in house. You'll work directly with Jay Dickieson .

Which fixed-price package is right for you?

Venture Package: £2,999 +vat

Perfect for start-ups and early stage businesses. (Pre-Seed / Seed) Business plan writing, including: Business Plan Strategy 60-90 Minute Kick-Off Zoom Workshop Ongoing Guidance & Advice Investor Narrative Development Core Business Plan: Executive Summary Mission Product/Service Overview Unique Selling Points SWOT Analysis Go-to-Market Strategy (Basic) Market Research: Market Sizing (TAM/SAM) Market Research Competitor Research Marketing: Marketing Strategy Marketing Goals Target Customers (Basic) Team: Senior Team Profiles Team Structure Financials: Revenue Model P&L (3 Years) EBITDA Cashflow (2 Years) EBITDA Investor Access: Free access to our investor contact list Output: A polished PDF file An editable Word document An editable Excel file (financials)

Enterprise Package: £4,499 +vat

Ideal for established businesses or complex start-ups. (Seed, Series A, Growth Funding) Business plan writing, including: Business Plan Strategy 90 Minute Zoom Kick-Off Workshop Ongoing Strategy & Advice Investor Narrative Development Core Business Plan: Executive Summary Mission Product/Service Overview Unique Selling Points SWOT Analysis Go-to-Market Strategy Market Research: Market Sizing (TAM/SAM) Detailed Market Research Competitor Research Marketing: Marketing Strategy Marketing Plan Marketing Goals Target Customers Team: Senior Team Profiles Team Structure Team Growth Plan Operations: Operations Plan Financials: Revenue/Business Model P&L (5 Years) EBITDA Cashflow (3 Years) EBITDA Milestones & KPIs Investor Proposition: Use of Funds Fundraising Environment Exit Strategy 2-Page Investor Teaser Investor Access: Free access to our investor contact list Output: A polished PDF file An editable Word document An editable Excel file (financials)

Get a free consultation: Have a question? Call us on 0203 934 6830 (M-F, 9:30 - 17:30), or email us: [email protected]

Simple payment terms: We charge a 50% deposit / 50% for completion. You can pay via credit/debit card or via invoice.

Trust the experts: Benefit from expertise built over 450+ client projects in the UK's funding ecosystem.

Add a pitch deck package to your business plan order.

Can we help?

Call us on 0203 934 6830, email [email protected] or request a callback (Mon-Fri).

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Business Plan Writing Service FAQ

Give us a call on 0203 934 6830 or email: [email protected] for a no obligation consultation. We can help guide you through the process and answer any questions.

You'll work directly with our Managing Director.

In our discovery workshop, we'll identify exactly what we'll need from you. The list varies by project and is specific to your business, but typically includes things like your historical financials or details on your product(s). Don't worry about preparing in advance - we will discuss what you do and don't have during the workshop.

Our discovery workshop is the first step. This takes 60-90 minutes and is conducted via Zoom. This session helps us identify what we need from you and where we'll need to do our own research.

From our initial discovery workshop, we aim to complete a first draft in about 15-20 business days. From here, additional changes / corrections and amendments tend to happen quite quickly via our feedback platform.

Yes - of course. The most time consuming step is for us to research and write the first draft of your business plan. As soon as this is ready, we'll share it with you for initial comments, changes and corrections.

A typical client takes about 3 drafts to get to the final product. Some projects take a few more, some a few less.

We encourage you to review the draft with advisors, stakeholders, co-founders and team members to ensure we get the widest possible feedback.

All of our business plans are editable using Microsoft Word (enabling you to make changes or iterations afterwards). You can expect to receive a .PDF and Word .docx file at the end of the project.

We work directly with CEOs / Founders / MD's. In our experience, this is the only way to ensure the final pitch deck is an accurate reflection of your vision for the business.

Yes - of course. Our HQ is based in Central London and our team are all based in the UK. Everything is done in house, by experts in the UK fundraising and business environment.

No problem, email us at [email protected] or call us on 0203 934 6830 and we'll talk you through everything.

UK Business Plan Writing Experts

We have nearly a decade of experience writing business plans for founders, CEOs, entrepreneurs and business leaders in the UK, US, UAE and more than 15 countries.  WHO WE HELP:

Business Plan Writing UK

The Best UK Business Plan Writers

Businessplanwriting.co.uk is the UK’s top destination for professional and affordable business plan writing services, starting from just £150!! Our experienced team of writers is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and small business owners succeed. Whether you’re starting a new venture or looking to grow your existing business, we offer tailored business plan writing services to meet your specific needs.

A well-crafted business plan is crucial for securing funding, setting goals, and making informed decisions about your business’s future. We take the time to thoroughly research your business and industry, crafting a customized plan that reflects your vision and goals.

Our affordable services are designed to fit any budget, with various packages available to suit your needs. For those on a tight budget, we offer a cost-effective business plan writing option that includes a basic plan outline and financial projections, providing a solid foundation for your business journey.

How much do Business Plans Cost in the UK?

In the United Kingdom, the cost of a business plan may vary greatly based on a number of variables, including the plan’s complexity, the degree of experience and research necessary, and the unique requirements of the firm. Business plans may cost anything from a few hundred pounds to as much as £5000. This is not necessary. For as little as £150 you should have a good business plan. We have a motivated team of writers that passionate about providing affordable business plan writing in the UK.

Before starting the process, it is also a good idea to have a clear concept of your budget and any special wants or criteria, as this may assist to ensure that you are able to discover a business plan writing service that fulfills your goals and matches your budget.

We have seen that the majority of people or businesses seeking business plan writing services are usually on a tight budget. But in trying to grow their business they end up paying more than they should on a business plan. You can see our business plan writing cost below and place your order.

Our Business Plan Pricing

• Around 15 pages
• 5 Day Turnaround Time
• Free Corrections
• One Year Financial Projections for All Financial Statements
• 24/7 support
• Around 30 Pages
• Thorough Marketing Plan
• 3 Year Financial Projections
• 40-50 Pages
• 7 day Turnaround Time
• Deep Research and comprehensive Referencing
• 3-5 Year Financial Projections plus Business Ratios

Business Plan Writing Services UK

Are you looking for the best business plan writers in the UK?

Look no further than BusinessPlanWriting.co.uk. We offer premium, well-researched business plans that will help you get the funding you need to get your business off the ground.

Here are some of the benefits of working with us:

• We have a team of experienced and professional business plan writers.
• We will work with you to understand your business and your goals.
• We will help you secure the funding you need to get your business started.

If you’re ready to take your business to the next level, call us today or visit our website to learn more about our services. And don’t forget to check out our customer reviews to see what others are saying about us.

You can contact us through the form below and we will respond very quickly. You can also click the WhatsApp icon on the right botton side of your screen. Another option is to send us an email to [email protected]

Get Investors for your Business!

Our business plans at businessplanwriting.co.uk start from a standard  15-20 page plan for £150  up to £300 for a 35-40 page standard plan and £500 for a comprehensive plan.

A business plan is a document that outlines the goals, strategies, and financial projections of a business. It is important for any business to have a well-developed business plan in order to ensure success. There are several key elements that should be included in a business plan, such as the company overview, market analysis, competitive analysis, product/service offering, sales and marketing strategy, and financial projections.

The first element that should be included in a business plan is the company overview. This section should provide an overview of the business, including its history, mission statement, and any relevant information about the company.

The second element that should be included in a business plan is the market analysis. This section should provide an analysis of the target market, including information on the size of the market, growth potential, and any relevant trends.

The third element that should be included in a business plan is the competitive analysis. This section should provide an analysis of the competition, including information on the major competitors, their market share, and their strengths and weaknesses.

The fourth element that should be included in a business plan is the product/service offering. This section should provide information on the products or services offered by the company, including a description of the products or services, pricing information, and any unique features or benefits.

The fifth element that should be included in a business plan is the sales and marketing strategy. This section should provide information on how the company plans to market and sell its products or services, including information on the target market, promotional strategies, and sales channels.

The sixth and final element that should be included in a business plan is the financial projections. This section should provide information on the company’s financial projections for the next three to five years, including information on revenue, expenses, and profitability.

A business plan is a critical document for any business. It should include the company overview, market analysis, competitive analysis, product/service offering, sales and marketing strategy, and financial projections. A well-developed business plan is essential for any business to ensure success.

There are a number of common mistakes that can be found in business plans. These mistakes can range from simple errors to more serious issues that can jeopardize the success of the business. Some of the most common mistakes include:

1. Not doing enough market research 2. Not having a clear target market 3. Not having a clear business model 4. Not having a clear marketing strategy 5. Not having a clear financial plan

One of the most common mistakes that can be found in business plans is not doing enough market research. This can lead to a number of problems, such as not understanding the needs of your target market or not having a clear understanding of your competition.

Another common mistake is not having a clear target market. This can lead to wasted marketing efforts and a lack of focus on the right customers. It is important to have a clear understanding of who your target market is and what needs they have.

These are just a few of the most common mistakes that can be found in business plans. By avoiding these mistakes, you can increase your chances of success.

A business plan is a critical tool for any business owner. It should outline the company’s goals, strategies, and how it plans to achieve them. But how long should a business plan take to write?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the amount of time it takes to write a business plan will vary depending on the business’s size, industry, and complexity. However, most business plans can be completed within 1-2 months.

One of the main factors that will affect how long it takes to write a business plan is the size of the business. A small business will have less to include in its plan than a large corporation. Therefore, it will generally take less time to write a business plan for a small business than for a large business.

Another factor that will affect the time it takes to write a business plan is the industry. Some industries are more complex than others, and this will be reflected in the length of the business plan. For example, a business plan for a manufacturing company will be more complex than a business plan for a service company.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the amount of time it takes to write a business plan will vary depending on the business’s size, industry, and complexity. However, most business plans can be completed within 1-2 month

Our business plans at businessplanwriting.co.uk start from a standard  15-20 page plan for £150  up to £300 for a 35-40 page standard plan and . You can see all our different packages HERE . For large and extensive projects we will give you a custom quote.

What Our Clients Have to Say

Let us Know what your goals are with the Business Plan

The purpose of the business plan is to establish a thorough and effective document that explains the company's goals and strategy. The business plan will act as a blueprint for the company's growth and development, ensuring that all stakeholders - including founders, workers, investors, and partners - are on the same page with the company's direction and goal.

Our Professional Business Plan Writers Get to Work

Once you have decided to work with our professional business plan writers, we will get to work on creating a comprehensive and effective plan for your business. Our team of experienced business professionals will begin by gathering all necessary information and data about your business, including your goals, target audience, industry, and competition. We will also conduct market research and financial analysis to better understand the opportunities and challenges facing your business.

Premium Business Plan is Ready!

Your Business Plan will be sent to you within the agreed deadline. You are able to send it back for revisions. Our team takes pride in having the business plan writing services. Our aim is to make sure you are happy with the final product.We hope you are delighted with the finished result and that it will be a useful tool for your company in the future. Please contact us if you have any questions or issues regarding the plan, or if there is anything else we can do to assist you. We are always here to assist you and your company.

No Stress Business Plans

Business Plan Writing service by professional business plan consultants in an easy to understand language. A simple, quick and effective service to help you understand your business & financial forecasting.

Professional Business Plan Writers

For All Types of Businesses

Businesses just like yours are securing finance and realising their dreams with the help of our business plan writing service.

We support all kinds of businesses, from retail and hospitality to business to business sectors. Square Plan has experience across many different business and this knowledge helps build the perfect business plan. Square Plan is perfect for –

• Businesses looking to secure startup financing
• Improving business viability
• Growth opportunities

Start Up Funding

If you are primarily looking for funding to help your new business get off the ground Square Plan is the ideal solution.

Our process takes your business needs and costs and presents them in a way that any investor or bank manager will understand and provide the crucial financial information they need to get you funded.

A Quick and Easy Process

1. contact us.

Contact us for a quote and then pay a deposit to get started on building your business plan.

2. Send us your Business Details

We will ask a few simple questions to help us understand your business

3. Receive Financial Projections

Once completed we’ll send  financial projections. This is your chance to give feedback and make amendments before we complete the business plan writing.

4. The Completed Business Plan

Your final plan will be sent with amends and feedback and the final balance can be paid.

What People Are Saying

Frequently Asked Questions

A business plan is an essential tool for any entrepreneur looking to start or grow a business. It helps you clarify your goals, identify potential challenges, and develop a roadmap for success. A well-written business plan can also help you secure financing from investors or banks.

Square Plan supports all kinds of businesses, from retail and hospitality to business-to-business sectors. They have experience across many different businesses, which helps them build the perfect business plan tailored to each client’s specific needs.

The process is quick and easy. You need to contact us for a quote and pay a deposit to get started on building your business plan. We will ask you a few simple questions to help understand your business, and then we will send you financial projections. You will have a chance to give feedback and make amendments before receiving the completed business plan, which will be sent with amends and feedback. 

Hiring a professional business plan writer can provide several benefits, such as saving you time and effort, ensuring that your business plan is of high quality and tailored to your specific needs, and increasing your chances of securing funding from investors or banks.

If you are starting a new business or looking to grow an existing one, a business plan is essential. It helps you clarify your goals, identify potential challenges, and develop a roadmap for success. Additionally, if you are seeking funding from investors or banks, a well-written business plan is a must-have.

Square Plan’s pricing starts from £299. However, the exact cost may vary depending on the type and complexity of the business plan needed. It is best to contact them for a free quote.

Get in Touch for a Business Plan Free Quote

Receive a  FREE quote for your business plan. Just send us a few details about your business.

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Our strategy professionals, research analysts and business plan writers develop actionable documents to help achieve outstanding success. All of our consultants have held senior commercial roles and have first-hand experience of creating investable business plans and securing funding.

BPW helps clients raise investment through debt and equity financing. We also write investment ready business plans for Venture Capital Firms, Angel investors, bank finance, Crowdfunding, government loans and grant applications. We also connect our existing clients with investors for a fee.

Start your entrepreneurial journey with our unique and affordable start-up services: Executive Summary Business Plan, Marketing Collateral Branding, Website & Hosting, UK Company Registration, Address/Telephone Answering/Mail Forward & Shareholders Agreement Support.

BPW business consultants team with our business plan writers and research analysts to create powerful business plans. These documents help our international clients purchase, franchise, start or expand a business, and comply with immigration or visa eligibility.

Before you embark on a new business journey, you must conduct a feasibility study be sure your and plans make sense for the target market, all internal stakeholders and potential investors.

We partner with a Business Intelligence & Big Data firm to help clients improve decision making, increase operational efficiency & create new sales opportunities. Solutions include: Providing Data Analytics Insights, Predictive Analytics, Moving to the Cloud, Data Warehousing, Data Integration & Salesforce ERP/CRM Implementations.

Tal (also known as Max) is a business owner, entrepreneur and investor with business strategy, business planning, investment, operations, technology, marketing, sales and business intelligence experience. An approved UK Growth Accelerator Service coach. He has personally started, grown and exited Companies in the UK, Europe and United States.

Space: Start-Up, Growth, Corporate.

Paul is a highly experienced business consultant and qualified executive coach who focuses on working with business leaders and their teams to achieve transformational performance and profitability shifts, and creating a sustainable legacy of co-operation and succession. His passion is helping to unleash the potential in individuals and organisations from owner-managed concerns through to FTSE scaled operations and facilitating a chain reaction of positive energy and results. Paul’s specialism is to help businesses of between £1M-£50M identify, uncover and then harness the key “hidden assets” that inevitably exist unseen in the bedrock and strata of all organisations.

Space: Start-Up, Growth & Corporate

Mo is an experienced business consultant having prepared more than 500 investor-ready business plans, financial models and pitch decks with an excellent success rate. He is dedicated to provide quality services in the areas of finance, business and market research.

Space: UK Start-Up and Growth

Peter is one of the top UK business plan consultants, he enables entrepreneurs to achieve their goals by releasing the potential of their business. Extensive financial modelling, consulting and business plan writing experience. He also regularly advises and writes Tier 1 visa business plans for our international customers starting Companies in the United Kingdom.

BPW have been operating since 2007, helping over 2500 clients to date with business consulting, writing business plans, marketing consulting, mentorship, raising investment and communicating their vision.

Call Now For Your FREE 30 Minute Consultation, And Get Expert Advice About Your Business Ideas, Financing Options, and Growth Opportunities!

• Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London WC1H 9BB, UK
• [email protected]
• UK +44 (0)207 554 8568
• Do We Need Business Plan Consultants to Develop a Winning Strategy? January 4, 2023
• The advantages and disadvantages of venture capital November 23, 2022
• Importance of a Business Plan Writer November 14, 2022
• Looking To Hire Professional Business Plan Writers – What Difference Does It Make? March 9, 2022

How We Work

High quality business plan writing services from professionals.

You found us because you need help with your business plan. And you’re probably wondering what sets business plan consultants like us apart from many other “business plan writers.” Here’s the difference:

Our Business Plan Writers: Sharp, Fast and Affordable. We accept any difficulty.

No Salespeople: We don’t have a slick commissioned salesperson “sell” you and then hand you off to a junior business plan writer as soon as they get your credit card number. From Day One, you will deal directly with the senior business plan consultant who will actually work with you. Personal relationships matter, and you need to know exactly who you’re dealing with.

Fully Customized: Some business plan consulting companies are able to charge extremely low fees because they have a cookie-cutter, assembly-line approach to business plan writing. You’re smart enough to know that you get what you pay for. We build all of our business plans from scratch to represent your unique vision, not somebody else’s.

Develop a Winning Strategy: Most so-called “business plan consultants” simply take whatever you tell them and put it on paper. We go much deeper and help you develop the most viable strategy for success, which we then communicate through a compelling business plan.

Save Money: About half of our clients came to us after a business plan prepared by a less qualified business plan consultant did not work out. Why not get it right the first time and save money?

Work with True Experts: Our business plan consultants are the best in the business. We’ve walked in your shoes and we understand what you’re going through. We have deep and broad experience in creating and executing upon business models of all kinds. We have a keen sense of what works in the marketplace and what doesn’t.

The Process of Writing your Business Plan

1. Free Telephone Consultation The consultation will involve an informal discussion that allows us to learn more about your business idea, the stage you are currently at and the direction of your business plan.

2. Business Plan Questionnaire After establishing that we would both like to work together, we will send over a questionnaire via email for you to complete. Your response to this will be used to start work on a draft business plan. It is likely we will need more information from you throughout the process. At Step 2 we also ask for a deposit – please see below for further details on fees.

3. Completion of the Draft Business Plan Dependant on the complexity of the business plan and any additional information we may need from you, it can take up to 2 weeks for the completion of the draft business plan. We will email you a draft business plan in either a Word or PDF document. Much of this time is spent researching your target demographic, your industry, competitor analysis and developing a comprehensive marketing section. As we mentioned previously, you will receive a completely bespoke and detailed business plan. In fact the “draft” business plan we send is near enough the final version in most cases.

4. Business Plan Review Once you have recieved your draft business plan via email you may review it thoroughly and email us back with any requirements or ammendments. We then incorporate any amendments in to the business plan, and once the remaining balance has been paid, you will receive both a Word document and pdf version of the business plan, the financial forecasts, appendices – including any additional information we have sourced which you might like to keep on file for reference.

Looking For a Professional Business Plan Writing Service?

Our business plan writers provide expert, engaging business plans custom-tailored to your business. work one-on-one with a professional business plan writer., if you’re having trouble writing your professional business plan, we can help, true experts, affordable pricing, bespoke to you, who are we.

Since 2001, our team of senior business consultants has written professional business plans for start-ups, solopreneurs, and small businesses in over 100 industries. We transform ideas into reality by developing detailed business plans to bring investors to the table. Our proven track record of helping entrepreneurs get funded is second to none.

What Do We Do?

First, we’ll research your specific industry and market and review your business strategy to determine your competitive advantages. Then we’ll develop a focused business plan that articulates your business objectives and compels investors to look further. We don’t use templates or automated software to produce your business plan. Our experts will capture the nuances and competitive advantages of your business and ensure they are showcased in your plan.

Many of our clients see us as their business partner, not just a single-output service provider. We’re not like other business plan writers in the UK – we help you create solid business foundations by offering you additional services. We can help you determine the best way to structure your company, show you options for raising capital, provide operations processes, and advise you regarding liquidity and exit strategies. We can even help you secure the funding you are looking for in your new business plan.

We never outsource your project to a junior analyst and we don’t use templates. Our London-based business plan consultants have advised and written business plans for hundreds of start-ups, growing companies, and small to medium-sized businesses worldwide. Let us get to know your business too. We will add value to your team and help your business grow by becoming your personal business consulting team.a

Why Choose Us?

Our business experts have over 100 years of collective business planning experience. We know how to create the best business plans in the UK. If you’re just looking for a run-of-the-mill business plan to satisfy a requirement, you may want to look elsewhere for business plan writing services. Our business plans are dynamic, and we pride ourselves in producing plans that work to produce measurable results. We aim to provide a business plan that accurately presents your ideas to stakeholders and investors and moves them to take action. Investors and bankers are given hundreds of business plans every month. We will break through the clutter and get your idea noticed so it has the best chance of receiving funding.

We focus on writing business plans that contain good content and cold, hard facts, so potential investors can quickly and easily understand the key points of your business strategy and determine if they want to fund it. Our experts have extensive experience in financial services, business consultancy, and market research to create winning business plans. We offer a comprehensive, professional business plan writing service that works in the background to let you stay focused on the critical first steps of starting your business.

Our Expertise and Experience Includes

Traditional business plans.

Many elements comprise a successful business plan, no matter what industry your business is in. A properly written business plan will deliver your vision and strategy for achieving it clearly and concisely. The best business plans will convince your audience to believe in your idea. We align the business plan with your unique business, ensuring that it works to achieve your goals.

Business Plans Tailored for Investors

Modern investors, whether local investors or angels, have incredibly high expectations. We will custom tailor your business plan to get your business plan noticed by potential investors. First impressions are everything and we specialise in impressing investors and getting entrepreneurs funding by preparing comprehensive and persuasive investment materials

Business Plans for Bank Loan Applications

Banks are always careful to consider potential risks before they issue a business loan. Your business plan needs to assure them that you have also considered all the risks associated with starting your business and acted to mitigate them. They must feel confident that you will be able to repay the loan and that serious financial challenges won’t plague your business. We include everything a bank will consider in its decision-making process, like sales projections, trading accounts, and cash flow forecasts.

Immigration Business Plans

For those outside the UK that want to establish a business in the UK, we offer Start-up and Innovator Visa business plans. We consult with the proper immigration officials and attorneys specializing in immigration law to ensure that we cover every aspect correctly and legally. Your Start-up or Innovator Visa business plan will fully comply with the Home Office requirements.

Nonprofit Business Plans

As with a for-profit business, a not-for-profit business also requires a business plan to show how it intends to achieve its mission. The business plan can also outline new projects and ventures an organisation is planning. Our nonprofit business plans clearly present your project as the best solution to the problem at hand, and comply with investor requirements for non-profit businesses that receive private or public grant funding.

Franchise Business Plans

If you have a franchise business, our expert writers can create a bespoke business plan for you. We have an in-depth understanding of franchise businesses and company values, ensuring we provide a franchise model business plan that works for you. We can present your skills, competencies, and background in a fully compliant franchise business plan that clearly shows your ability to run a successful franchise business.

Some Details Of Our Business Plans Include

Executive summary.

The Executive Summary is one of the most crucial parts of your business plan. It provides potential investors with a quick synopsis of your business idea and vision for execution. A perfectly crafted Executive Summary will establish your competence and professional credibility and convince the right people to continue reading.

General Overview

This should be a concise, smartly-written section outlining your Mission Statement, Vision Statement, the business’s history, a breakdown of company ownership, and how the business is positioned in the marketplace. We write General Overview sections at a high level and save the details for other parts of the business plan.

Products or Services

The Products and Services section explains the main issues your business will solve with its product or service offering and the details about the product or service, including pricing, fulfillment, and other factors that show how you intend to operate the business.

Financial Section

The last section of a business plan is the financial section. It is often the crux of a business plan because it includes the relevant financial information and details that explain how you plan to manage the business finances. It contains the expected Profit and Loss Statements and the cash flow projections for the business.

Market Details

The Market Details section is a vital element of your business plan as it helps readers understand who your target market is. It also showcases your backing suppliers and adequately explains the competition in your market. A well-written Market Details section should show the reader what product or service your company provides, where it will provide it, and the competition you will need to overcome to be successful.

Sales Model

Potential investors want to know how you plan to sell your product or service and the general sales and profit projections over the coming years. We will include pricing plans, forecasted sales targets, and a breakdown of the anticipated sales volume and costs of doing business.

A marketing plan is an essential part of a professional business plan. It should explain the types of marketing your business can use and your available marketing budget to help you to reach your target audience. We take a comprehensive approach and, depending on the needs of your business, will include a mix of local, online, and offline marketing strategies.

Management Structure

An often underrated part of a robust business plan is the Management Structure section. It should demonstrate to potential investors that you can be trusted and establish that your business has sound leadership and will operate professionally.

Our Process is Easy

We take the stress out of writing your business plan.

• Free Consultation Call
• Information Gathering
• First Draft
• Final Draft and Handover

How Much Does it Cost?

What Our Satisfied Clients Say

As a start-up company, I knew the importance of having a thorough and well-written business plan. In my search for a company that would be able to write my business plan, I was fortunate to find the Business Plan Writers UK team. The business plan that they wrote was engaging, informative, and well-detailed. One of our investors called it an “excellent business plan.” I would highly recommend them to anyone who is serious about finding funding for their project.

Mark Savvidou

I initially set upon finding a professional business plan writing service to deliver a BP that would attract investors to my business, after discussing options with many different providers I made the choice to choose the ‘Business Plan Writers UK’ based on initial discussions with my designated plan writing expert. The initial contact gave me confidence in the fact that I was in the right hands and that the person on the end of the phone was exceptionally knowledgeable and very capable. Not only did I receive my very detailed plan on time but I also gained expert knowledge along the way. I would highly recommend the business plan writers the UK to anyone wanting a professional, accurate and timely business plan.

Darren Jacks

Rather than the typical client/vendor relationship I’m used to, the ‘Business Plan Writers UK’ team has been more like a strategic partner and trusted advisor. Not only did they provide me with a dynamic business plan but they have given me invaluable advice and feedback along the way. They have exceeded my expectations in every way possible during this exciting time of starting & ultimately growing my business.

Professional Business Plan Writers

We started as an entrepreneurs idea, we now help others launch theirs. Our business model is simple provide higher quality at a lower prices than the rest = more sales. Free Business Advice Hotline: 0808 164 8744

Did you know... The Gov.uk defenition of a Small Business: A business with a turnover of less than £10M and less than 50 employees.

Need help writing a business plan?

We help you create a business plan that not only outlines your vision and goals but also serves as a strategic roadmap for your startup's success. With our expertise in financial forecasting, market analysis, and operations planning, we ensure your business is equipped to navigate challenges and seize opportunities. Let our dedicated business plan writers provide the guidance and support you need to propel your venture forward.

How does it work?

• Begin with our initial consultation where we understand your business vision, goals and challenges.

• Provide us with relevant information about your business and financials. If you're unsure, our team will guide you on what's needed.

• Our experienced business plan writers will craft a comprehensive plan, incorporating financial projections, marketing strategies, operations plans and more.

• We'll present the draft to you, allowing for revisions and ensuring it aligns perfectly with your vision.

• Once approved, you'll receive a polished, professional business plan ready to present to stakeholders, investors or for your internal use.

Trust in our process to provide a tailored strategy that positions your business for success.

Business Plans for Small Businesses

At Business Plan Writer UK, we specialize in crafting business plans tailored for small businesses. Understanding their unique needs, our service focuses on creating realistic, comprehensive plans that cover market analysis, marketing strategies, and financial projections. Our collaborative approach ensures each plan aligns with the specific vision and goals of the business owner, providing a clear roadmap for growth and success in a competitive market. Our expertise helps small businesses secure funding and strategically navigate their industry.

UK Innovator Visa Business Plans

The UK Innovator Visa, replacing the Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa in 2019, is for individuals starting a business in the UK, requiring a minimum £50,000 investment. A crucial step is getting your innovative business plan endorsed by an approved body. This visa allows a three-year stay in the UK, extendable with potential eligibility for Indefinite Leave to Remain after three years. Your business idea must meet three criteria for endorsement: it should be innovative (original and meeting market needs), viable (realistic with market awareness and relevant skills), and scalable (showing potential for job creation and growth in national and international markets). Endorsing bodies, listed on the gov.uk website, assess these criteria and provide endorsement letters to the Home Office.

Home Business Plans

Home business plans are essential for entrepreneurs looking to establish a business from their residence. These plans should detail the unique aspects of operating a home-based enterprise, including lower overhead costs, flexible work hours, and the integration of personal and professional spaces. The plan must outline the business model, market analysis, marketing strategies, and financial projections, tailored to the home business environment. It should also address potential challenges such as zoning laws, home office setup, and balancing work-life dynamics. A well-structured home business plan not only serves as a roadmap for success but also can be pivotal in securing funding or partnerships, demonstrating a clear and viable vision for the business’s growth and sustainability within the comfort of one's home.

Start up Business Plans

Start-up business plans are vital for new entrepreneurs, serving as a blueprint for launching and growing their ventures. These plans should comprehensively detail the business idea, market opportunity, unique value proposition, and competitive landscape. Essential components include a thorough market analysis, a clear marketing and sales strategy, operational plans, and financial projections. The plan must also address the challenges and risks associated with start-ups, such as securing funding, building a customer base, and managing cash flow. A well-crafted start-up business plan not only guides the entrepreneur through the initial stages of business development but also plays a crucial role in attracting investors, lenders, and partners by showcasing the start-up’s potential for success and scalability in its respective market.

Service Business Plans

Service Business Plans are essential for entrepreneurs in various service sectors, guiding the development and growth of their ventures. These plans should include a comprehensive market analysis, focusing on the demand and competition in popular service areas. Key components include detailed descriptions of service offerings, such as carpet cleaning business plans, IT consulting business plans, or digital marketing business plans, along with tailored pricing strategies and customer segmentation. The plan should also cover operational strategies, including staffing, equipment, and service delivery methods. Financial projections, effective marketing plans, and customer acquisition strategies are crucial, particularly in competitive service industries. A well-crafted service business plan is not just a roadmap for operational success but also a tool to attract investors and partners, showcasing the potential for sustainable growth and profitability in sought-after service markets.

Free business plan templates

Business Plan Writer UK now offers free business plan templates and resources, catering to a wide range of entrepreneurial needs. These templates are designed to streamline the planning process for various business types, including start-ups, service-based businesses, and home-based enterprises. Each template, such as a start-up business plan template or a service business plan template, is crafted to provide a solid framework, guiding entrepreneurs through key components like market analysis, financial planning, and operational strategies. Alongside these templates, our resources section offers valuable insights and tips on business planning, market research, and funding strategies. This initiative aims to empower entrepreneurs, especially those at the early stages of their business journey, by providing accessible tools and knowledge to create effective, customised business plans, fostering business growth and success.

Why choose Small Business Plans

With years of expertise in business plan writing services , we are dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and businesses craft compelling plans tailored to their unique needs.

Professional Business Plan Writers UK

Our team of business plan specialists is dedicated to crafting bespoke plans that resonate with investors and stakeholders.

Tailored for Small Businesses

Whether you need a business plan for a small business or a comprehensive strategy, we've got you covered.

Local business plan writers

Our UK-based team understands the local market dynamics, ensuring your plan is both globally competitive and locally relevant.

Comprehensive Services

From marketing plans to financial business plans , we offer a range of services to cover all facets of your business.

Our Business Plans Featured On:

Choose Your Plan

Expert business plan writing services tailored to your needs.

Platinum Plan

Platinum+ Plan

What our clients say about our business plan writing services.

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Business Plan Writer

Business plan consultant financial forecasting startup support company compliance.

As a UK-based Business Plan Writer, Bolasco Consulting provides Business Plan Writing Services to new and growing Businesses covering Financial forecasting, Market Research and Analysis, and Drafting of Investor-ready Business Plans.

Business Plans are typically drafted for:

Loan applications

Government grants

Private investors

Crowdfunding campaigns

Bolasco Consulting offers support on any or all of the following aspects depending on your requirements: ​

1) Building sensible sales forecasts;

2) Financial forecasting; 3) Research and market analysis; 4) Drafting a professional Business Plan complete with descriptive sections and financial elements.

Our Business Plan typically includes...

- Executive summary

- Sales forecast

- Market demand

- Competition analysis

- Investments and expenses

- Sales forecasts

- Break-even analysis

- Cash flow forecasts

- SWOT analysis

- Marketing plan

- Full set of financial projections for the following 3 to 5 years 

Our Business Plans

Additional support, depending on your requirements....

As well as drafting business plans and pitch decks, we also offer help with the following preliminary research and analysis if our clients need it: 

Researching the market

Analysing the competition

Defining the business model

SWOT analysis

Forecasting sales 

Financial projections

Our fees...

Vary depending on the complexity of Your Plan and the level of support You require but, as a guidance, fees start:

From £1,000 for drafting an investor-ready Business Plan

From £600 for creating Your Financial Projections for the next 3 to 5 years

From £300 for our review-only, no-editing, assistance complete with a brief report

Please get in touch for additional information.

What makes us different

Every business is different....

Just like the people at the helm of it. That’s why bespoke support can make a difference in implementing your plan. And that is why every business will have a plan of its own.

No business plan software or template-like solutions!

It will be your business plan with the added expertise, critical view, and accounting knowledge of dedicated business advisers.

Our publication...

Because we know what we are doing we also published a guidance book.

To find " How to Write a Business Plan " click on the book cover image or search for it on the Amazon site of your country

Learn more about Alessandro Bolasco

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• Business and self-employed
• Business finance and support

Write a business plan

Download free business plan templates and find help and advice on how to write your business plan.

Business plan templates

Download a free business plan template on The Prince’s Trust website.

You can also download a free cash flow forecast template or a business plan template on the Start Up Loans website to help you manage your finances.

Business plan examples

Read example business plans on the Bplans website.

How to write a business plan

Get detailed information about how to write a business plan on the Start Up Donut website.

Why you need a business plan

A business plan is a written document that describes your business. It covers objectives, strategies, sales, marketing and financial forecasts.

A business plan helps you to:

• clarify your business idea
• spot potential problems
• set out your goals
• measure your progress

You’ll need a business plan if you want to secure investment or a loan from a bank. Read about the finance options available for businesses on the Business Finance Guide website.

It can also help to convince customers, suppliers and potential employees to support you.

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• Tier 1 Visa Business Plans

Professional Business Plan Writing Service

I have been a professional business plan writer for over 10 years.

Having worked with many hundreds of business owners, from start-ups to large corporations, I know that every business is different. I do not provide "off the shelf" business plans – instead – I offer a uniquely bespoke and reliable service for both new and established companies.

I don't just write business plans; I also run several businesses, so understand exactly what needs to be included in your plan to make it a success. I provide a highly professional and informal approach. Here's a bit more detail on how I work:

Business Plan Writing Process

01 Free Telephone Consultation This is where we have an informal discussion so I can discover more about you, your business and the purpose of the business plan. It also gives you the chance to ask me any questions. No hard sell, no sales pitch, just an opportunity to see if we're a good fit and whether I'm the right person to help you.

02 Business Plan Questionnaire Once we've agreed to work together, I will email over a questionnaire for you to complete (as well my T&Cs). I use the information supplied to begin work on the "body" of the business plan. Ultimately the quality of the plan will depend on the quality of information you provide – so the more detailed the better! That said it is very likely I will need to draw more information from you as I write the business plan. This often the case when we come to the number crunching bit i.e. the financial forecasting. At Step 2 I also ask for a 50% deposit of the agreed fee – please see below for further details on fees.

03 Completing the Draft Business Plan It can take between 3-4 weeks to complete the draft business plan, depending on the complexity of the plan, the degree of information already provided and what additional details I need from you. I can and often work to specific deadlines, however, this will depend on my workload at the time. Much of this time is spent researching your target demographic, your industry, competitor analysis and developing a comprehensive marketing section. As I mentioned previously, you will receive a completely bespoke and detailed business plan (typically 25 – 30 pages in length). In fact the "draft" business plan I send is near enough the final version in most cases.

04 Review of Business Plan Once I have sent over the draft business plan, you have 7 days to review and email back any specific amendments. I always urge my clients to read the plan thoroughly at this stage. I then incorporate any amendments in to the business plan, and once the remaining balance has been paid, you will receive both a Word document and pdf version of the business plan, the financial forecasts, appendices – including any additional information I have sourced which you might like to keep on file for reference.

What's included in the Business Plan

My business plans include the following:

• Executive Summary
• Financial Summary
• Business History & Objectives
• Directors' Background
• Service/Product Description
• Market Research
• Customer Profile
• Market Analysis
• Competitor Analysis
• SWOT Analysis
• Sales & Marketing Strategy
• Legal Requirements
• Management & Staff
• Financial Analysis
• Financial Forecasts (e.g. Cash Flow Forecast and P&L Account)
• Relevant Appendices

In addition, I also work closely with a number of accountants and financial experts, so depending on the complexity of the financial forecasts requested (and my workload) I may bring in additional support and help – this is of course included in the fee.

Do you provide a sample business plan?

The short answer is no. For over 10 years I have always maintained the highest level of confidentiality for my clients, and as I'm sure you wouldn't want a competitor seeing your business plan, I never send client's business plans. That said, so you can be assured of depth of detail and quality, I am always happy to arrange an online meeting, so that I can screenshare example business plans. Also, I can provide many example case studies, copies of email feedback from clients and for even more assurance please visit my results page .

How much does it cost?

My fees depend on a number of factors, including the amount of information already provided, the complexity of your business and the financial forecasts as well as how much finance is required. Fees start from £1,600 (far more competitive than many other providers).

I ask for 50% deposit before I begin work with the remaining 50% to be paid before I send you the final business plan. Please ask for further details.

Business Plan Review Service

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8 Business Plan Templates You Can Get for Free

8 min. read

Updated April 10, 2024

A business plan template can be an excellent tool to simplify the creation of your business plan. 

The pre-set structure helps you organize ideas, covers all critical business information, and saves you time and effort on formatting.

The only issue? There are SO many free business plan templates out there. 

So, which ones are actually worth using? 

To help remove the guesswork, I’ve rounded up some of the best business plan templates you can access right now. 

These are listed in no particular order, and each has its benefits and drawbacks.

What to look for in a business plan template

Not all business plan templates are created equal. As you weigh your options and decide which template(s) you’ll use, be sure to review them with the following criteria in mind:

• Easy to edit: A template should save you time. That won’t be the case if you have to fuss around figuring out how to edit the document, or even worse, it doesn’t allow you to edit at all.
• Contains the right sections: A good template should cover all essential sections of a business plan , including the executive summary, product/service description, market/competitive analysis, marketing and sales plan, operations, milestones, and financial projections. 
• Provides guidance: You should be able to trust that the information in a template is accurate. That means the organization or person who created the template is highly credible, known for producing useful resources, and ideally has some entrepreneurial experience.
• Software compatibility: Lastly, you want any template to be compatible with the software platforms you use. More than likely, this means it’s available in Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or PDF format at a minimum. 

1. Bplans — A plan with expert guidance

Since you’re already on Bplans, I have to first mention the templates that we have available. 

Our traditional and one-page templates were created by entrepreneurs and business owners with over 80 years of collective planning experience. We revisit and update them annually to ensure they are approachable, thorough, and aligned with our team’s evolving best practices.  

The templates, available in Word, PDF, or Google Doc formats, include in-depth guidance on what to include in each section, expert tips, and links to additional resources. 

Plus, we have over 550 real-world sample business plans you can use for guidance when filling out your template.

Download: Traditional lender-ready business plan template or a simple one-page plan template .

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2. SBA — Introduction to business plans

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) offers two different business plan templates along with a short planning guide. 

While not incredibly in-depth, it’s enough to help you understand how traditional and lean plans are structured and what information needs to be covered. The templates themselves are more like examples, providing you with a finished product to reference as you write your plan.

The key benefit of using these templates is that they were created by the SBA. While they may provide less guidance, you can be assured that the information and structure meet their expectations.

Explore: The SBA’s planning guide and free templates

3. SCORE — Planning workbook

SCORE’s template is more like a workbook. It includes exercises after each section to help you get your ideas down and turn them into a structured plan.

The market research worksheets are especially useful. They provide a clear framework for identifying your target market and analyzing competitors from multiple angles. Plus, they give you an easy way to document all the information you’re collecting.

You will likely have to remove the exercises in this template to make it investor-ready. But it can be worth it if you’re struggling to get past a blank page and want a more interactive planning method.

Download: SCORE’s business plan template

4. PandaDoc — A template with fillable forms

PandaDoc’s library offers a variety of industry-specific business plan templates that feature a modern design flair and concise instructions. 

These templates are designed for sharing. They include fillable fields and sections for non-disclosure agreements, which may be necessary when sending a plan to investors.  

But the real benefit is their compatibility with PandaDoc’s platform. Yes, they are free, but if you’re a PandaDoc subscriber, you’ll have far more customization options. 

Out of all their templates, the standard business plan template is the most in-depth. The rest, while still useful, go a bit lighter on guidance in favor of tailoring the plan to a specific industry.

Explore: PandaDoc’s business plan template library  

5. Canva — Pitch with your plan

Canva is a great option for building a visually stunning business plan that can be used as a pitch tool. It offers a diverse array of templates built by their in-house team and the larger creative community, meaning the number of options constantly grows.

You will need to verify that the information in the template you choose matches the standard structure of a traditional business plan. 

You should do this with any template, but it’s especially important with any tool that accepts community submissions. While they are likely reviewed and approved, there may still be errors.

Remember, you can only edit these templates within Canva. Luckily, you only need a free subscription, and you may just miss out on some of the visual assets being used. 

To get the most value, it may be best to create a more traditional planning document and transfer that information into Canva. 

Explore: Canva’s business plan gallery

6. ClickUp — The collaborative template

Out of all the project management tools that offer free business plan templates, ClickUp’s is the most approachable.

Rather than throwing you into all the features and expecting you to figure it out—ClickUp provides a thorough startup guide with resource links, images, and videos explaining how to write a plan using the tool. 

There’s also a completed sample plan (structured like an expanded one-page plan) for you to reference and see how the more traditional document can connect to the product management features. You can set goals, target dates, leave comments, and even assign tasks to someone else on your team. 

These features are limited to the ClickUp platform and will not be useful for everyone. They will likely get in the way of writing a plan you can easily share with lenders or investors. 

But this is a great option if you’re looking for a template that makes internal collaboration more fluid and keeps all your information in one place.

Sign Up: Get a free trial of ClickUp and explore their template library

7. Smartsheet — A wide variety of templates

I’m including Smartsheet’s library of templates on this list because of the sheer number of options they provide. 

They have a simple business plan template, a one-page plan, a fill-in-the-blank template, a plan outline, a plan grading rubric, and even an Excel-built project plan. All are perfectly usable and vary in visual style, depth of instructions, and the available format.

Honestly, the only drawback (which is also the core benefit) is that the amount of templates can be overwhelming. If you’re already uncertain which plan option is right for you, the lengthy list they provide may not provide much clarity.

At the same time, it can be a great resource if you want a one-stop shop to view multiple plan types.

Explore: Smartsheet’s business plan template library  

8. ReferralRock affiliate marketing business plan

I’m adding ReferralRock’s template to this list due to its specificity. 

It’s not your standard business plan template. The plan is tailored with specific sections and guidance around launching an affiliate marketing business. 

Most of the template is dedicated to defining how to choose affiliates, set commissions, create legal agreements, and track performance.

So, if you plan on starting an affiliate marketing business or program, this template will provide more specific guidance. Just know that you will likely need to reference additional resources when writing the non-industry sections of your plan.

Download: ReferralRock affiliate marketing business plan template

Does it matter what business plan template you use?

The short answer is no. As long as the structure is correct, it saves you time, and it helps you write your business plan , then any template will work. 

What it ultimately comes down to, is what sort of value you hope to get from the template. 

• Do you need more guidance? 
• A simple way to structure your plan? 
• An option that works with a specific tool?
• A way to make your plan more visually interesting?

Hopefully, this list has helped you hone in on an option that meets one (or several) of these needs. Still, it may be worth downloading a few of these templates to determine the right fit. 

And really, what matters most is that you spend time writing a business plan . It will help you avoid early mistakes, determine if you have a viable business, and fully consider what it will take to get up and running. 

If you need additional guidance, check out our library of planning resources . We cover everything from plan formats , to how to write a business plan, and even how to use it as a management tool . 

If you don’t want to waste time researching other templates, you can download our one-page or traditional business plan template and jump right into the planning process.

See why 1.2 million entrepreneurs have written their business plans with LivePlan

Kody Wirth is a content writer and SEO specialist for Palo Alto Software—the creator's of Bplans and LivePlan. He has 3+ years experience covering small business topics and runs a part-time content writing service in his spare time.

Table of Contents

• Qualities of a good template
• ReferralRock
• Does the template matter?

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Prudential Regulation Authority Business Plan 2024/25

Related links related links.

• PRA annual reports and business plans
• CP4/24 – Regulated fees and levies: Rates proposals 2024/25

Maintain and build on the safety and soundness of the banking and insurance sectors, and ensure continuing resilience

Be at the forefront of identifying new and emerging risks, and developing international policy

Support competitive and dynamic markets, alongside facilitating international competitiveness and growth, in the sectors that we regulate, run an inclusive, efficient, and modern regulator within the central bank, the pra’s strategy.

Our strategy for 2024/25 will be delivered through our strategic goals, extracts of which are below. For the full detail of our workplan against each strategic priorities, see pages 10 to 41 of this Business Plan . 

Foreword by Chief Executive Sam Woods

Sam Woods Deputy Governor, Prudential Regulation Chief Executive of the PRA

First, this will be our first full year operating under the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA 2023), which established a new, post-Brexit regulatory framework for the UK. FSMA 2023 expanded our rulemaking responsibilities and gave us a new secondary objective to support the competitiveness and growth of the United Kingdom.

Competitiveness and growth have always been important considerations for the PRA. Nonetheless, this new objective represents a significant change, and embedding it into our approach has been a major priority for the organisation as a whole, and for me personally as CEO. That effort will continue this year.

Our business plan includes a range of initiatives aimed squarely at promoting the UK’s competitiveness and growth. Some of the most significant are:

• Our ‘Strong and Simple’ project, which aims to simplify regulatory requirements for smaller banks, thus reducing compliance burdens without compromising on strong standards.
• The ‘Solvency UK’ reforms of insurance capital standards, which will reduce bureaucracy in the regulatory regime, while also allowing insurers to invest in a wider range of productive assets.
• The Banking Data Review, which aims to reduce burdens on firms by focusing our data collection on the most useful and relevant information.
• Improvements to our authorisation processes – we have made significant progress in improving the speed and efficiency of authorisations without sacrificing the robustness of our controls; maintaining this progress will be a key focus for next year.
• Reforms to ring-fencing, following the independent review led by Sir Keith Skeoch.

The second point I want to highlight is our ongoing programme of work to maintain the resilience of the UK’s banking and insurance sectors, which is at the heart of our role. The events of 2023 (including the high-profile failures of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Credit Suisse (CS)) demonstrate the importance of a focus on resilience – and while I am encouraged by how the UK banking and insurance sectors have remained stable through a stressful period, we cannot take this for granted.

A major priority this year will be the implementation of the Basel 3.1 standards, which will complete the long process of post-financial crisis regulatory reform. While I expect the capital impact of these reforms to be limited for UK banks, they will nonetheless play a vital role in maintaining sufficient consistency in risk measurement across firms and jurisdictions – which is the cornerstone of the bank capital regime.

Another major priority this year will be ensuring firms have adequate standards of operational and cyber resilience. Following FSMA 2023, we have new powers to oversee the services provided to regulated firms by so-called ‘critical third parties’, and we will be implementing that regime over the coming year. And in March 2025 we will reach an important milestone with the full implementation of our wider operational resilience policy.

The day-to-day work of supervision will continue alongside these reforms. As always, our supervisory teams continue to work with PRA-regulated firms to ensure high standards of financial and operational resilience, governance, risk management, and controls. Stress testing remains a key element of our approach to resilience, and alongside colleagues from the wider Bank of England we will deliver a desk-based stress test of banks, and a system-wide exploratory scenario, in 2024. We will also work towards the next round of insurance stress tests in 2025.

I have really only scratched the surface of the work we are doing this year, as you can see from a glance at this document’s contents page. In order to deliver this work, we will need to run an efficient and effective regulator, and I am particularly excited by the potential of our data and analytics agenda to create new opportunities to improve how we work. And if past years are anything to go by, we will continue to engage with innovation in many forms across the industry, whether in the form of new entrants or new approaches to doing business in areas like digital money.

I am very much looking forward to the challenges that the next year will bring, and to working together with a team of very committed colleagues at the PRA to deliver on this business plan.

11 April 2024

Overview of responsibilities and approach

The PRA has two primary objectives: a general objective to promote the safety and soundness of PRA-authorised persons, and an objective specific to insurance firms for the protection of policyholders.

The PRA has two secondary objectives:

• the competition objective, which is focused on facilitating effective competition in the markets for services provided by PRA-authorised persons in carrying on regulated activities; and
• the competitiveness and growth objective, which is focused on facilitating, subject to alignment with relevant international standards, (a) the international competitiveness of the economy of the UK (including, in particular, the financial services sector through the contribution of PRA-authorised persons), and (b) its growth in the medium to long term.

In its December 2022 recommendations letter to the Prudential Regulation Committee (PRC), HM Treasury (HMT) set out aspects of the Government’s economic policy to which the PRA must have regard, while building on the important themes of openness, competitiveness, competition, and innovation, as well as delivering energy security and net zero.

In December 2023, the PRA published a consultation paper (CP)27/23 – The Prudential Regulation Authority’s approach to policy , which sets out the PRA’s approach to policymaking as it takes on expanded rule-making powers introduced through FSMA 2023. These expanded powers will enable the PRA to replace relevant assimilated law (previously known as retained EU law) with PRA rules and other policy material, and move towards a more British system of regulation, with most of the technical rules made by independent UK regulators within a framework set by Parliament. In addition, FSMA 2023 introduces new accountability measures that require the PRA to keep its rules under review , and to establish a Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) Panel composed of external members, which will scrutinise and provide input into the PRA’s CBA framework. These measures should enable the PRA to deliver policies that are well suited to the UK’s financial sector. In addition:

• In December 2023, the PRA took a significant step towards implementing the remaining Basel III standards in the UK by publishing the first of two near-final sets of rules with policy statement (PS)17/23 – Implementation of the Basel 3.1 standards near-final part 1 , which takes account of responses received to CP16/22 . The near-final rules aim to promote the safety and soundness of PRA-regulated firms and support their international competitiveness by making capital ratios more consistent, comparable, and aligned with international standards. The PRA will publish its second near-final policy statement in 2024 Q2 on the remaining aspects of the Basel 3.1 package, which include credit risk, the output floor, reporting, and disclosure requirements. The PRA plans to implement the Basel 3.1 standards over a 4.5-year transitional period beginning on 1 July 2025 and ending on 1 January 2030. Among other things, the PRA will also continue to support international efforts to monitor and promote the implementation of Basel 3.1.
• In December 2023, the PRA published PS15/23 – The Strong and Simple Framework: Scope Criteria, Liquidity and Disclosure Requirements , taking account of feedback to CP4/23 . The policy addresses liquidity and disclosure requirements for Simpler-regime Firms and Pillar 3 remuneration disclosure. The PRA will move further towards finalising and implementing the Strong and Simple prudential framework for Small Domestic Deposit Takers (SDDTs) during 2024. footnote [1]
• Following the publication of discussion paper (DP)3/22 – Operational resilience: Critical third parties to the UK financial sector , in December 2023, the PRA published CP26/23 , jointly with the Bank of England (‘the Bank’) and FCA (‘the supervisory authorities’). CP26/23 sets out the supervisory authorities’ proposed requirements for critical third parties (CTPs), footnote [2] including the mechanism for identifying potential CTPs, recommending them for designation by HMT, incident notification triggers and requirements, and proposed CTP Fundamental Rules. In 2024, the PRA will continue to work with the supervisory and other authorities to develop the final policy and oversight approach.
• In September 2023, the PRA published CP19/23 – Review of Solvency II: Reform of the Matching Adjustment , which marks a significant milestone in the PRA's reforms to the Solvency II regime for the UK insurance market. Following the publication of PS2/24 – Review of Solvency II: Adapting to the UK insurance market and PS3/24 – Review of Solvency II: Reporting and disclosure phase 2 near-final , the PRA will publish its final rules, subject to alignment with anticipated legislation, in 2024.

The PRA’s objectives and priorities are delivered through regulation and supervision, and by developing standards and policies that set out expectations of firms. The PRA’s approach to supervision is forward-looking, judgement-based, and focused on the issues and firms that pose the greatest risk to the stability of the UK financial system and policyholders. This approach is set out in the  PRA’s approach to supervision of the banking and insurance sectors .

The PRA’s regulatory focus is primarily at the individual firm and sector level, with the most important decisions taken by the PRC, which works with the Bank’s other areas of remit, including its role as supervisor of Financial Market Infrastructures (FMIs), the UK’s Resolution Authority, and its committees, including the Financial Policy Committee (FPC), which has responsibility for the stability of the entire UK financial system. The PRA also works closely with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), including through the Chief Executive of the PRA being a member of the FCA Board and the Chief Executive of the FCA being a member of the PRC.

The PRA regulates 1,330 firms and groups. footnote [3] These consist of 730 deposit-takers (banks, building societies, credit unions, and designated investment firms footnote [4] (DIFs)), and 600 insurers of all types (general insurers, life insurers, friendly societies, mutuals, the London market, and insurance special purpose vehicles (ISPVs)).

Chart 1: PRA supervised deposit-takers, as at January 2024

Chart 2: pra supervised insurers, as at january 2024, the pra’s strategy, shaping the pra’s strategy.

Each year, the PRA is required by law footnote [5] to review and, if necessary, revise its strategy in line with its statutory objectives:

• the general primary objective to promote the safety and soundness of PRA-authorised firms;
• specifically for insurance firms, a primary objective to contribute to the securing of an appropriate degree of protection for those who are or may become policyholders;
• a secondary objective to act, so far as is reasonably possible, in a way that facilitates effective competition in the markets for services provided by PRA-authorised firms; and
• a new secondary objective to act, so far as reasonably possible, in a way that facilitates the UK economy’s international competitiveness and its growth over the medium to long term, subject to alignment with international standards.

In addition to the statutory objectives, the PRA’s strategy is shaped by other responsibilities, such as the requirement to implement legislation and other changes necessary to meet international standards, and to continue to adapt to market changes in areas such as financial technology (FinTech), climate change, and digitalisation.

When considering how to advance its objectives, there are a set of regulatory principles to which the PRA must also have regard. This includes regulatory principles from FSMA 2000, and considerations from HMT’s December 2022 letter to the PRC on the Government’s economic policy, the Equality Act 2010, the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006, and the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. In its pursuit of its objectives, the PRA will review all the regulatory principles, identify which are significant to the proposed policy, and judge the extent to which they should influence the outcome being sought.

Furthermore, as part of the Bank, the PRA contributes to the delivery of the Bank’s wider financial stability and monetary policy objectives, for example by:

• maintaining and, where appropriate, strengthening or updating prudential standards;
• being at the forefront of identifying new and emerging risks, and developing international policy; and
• ensuring that banks and other financial institutions can continue to provide essential services.

Strategic priorities for 2024/25

This year’s business plan continues to be structured around the PRA’s four strategic priorities, as set out in its 2023/24 Business Plan . The PRA’s strategic priorities for 2024/25 will remain unchanged because the PRA updated its priorities in 2023 to take account of its new powers, new secondary objective, and expanded role brought about by FSMA 2023. The strategic priorities for 2024/25 are to:

• maintain and build on the safety and soundness of the banking and insurance sectors, and ensure continuing resilience;
• be at the forefront of identifying new and emerging risks, and developing international policy;
• support competitive and dynamic markets, alongside facilitating international competitiveness and growth, in the sectors that we regulate; and
• run an inclusive, efficient, and modern regulator within the central bank.

PRA Business Plan 2024/25

Maintain and build on the safety and soundness of the banking and insurance sectors and ensure continuing resilience.

During the decade following the financial crisis of 2007-09, the PRA designed and implemented extensive reforms that materially improved the safety and soundness of firms, insurance policyholder protection, and financial stability. Since then, the robust regulatory standards that the PRA has implemented and its strong international collaboration have played a key role in maintaining the resilience of the banking and insurance sectors, consistent with its objectives and those of the FPC. The PRA will continue to ensure that the firms it regulates remain adequately capitalised and have sufficient liquidity and stable funding profiles, with appropriately defined impact tolerances for disruption to their business services. The PRA’s regulatory framework encourages PRA-regulated firms to take a holistic approach to managing risks by identifying, monitoring, and taking action to remove or reduce systemic risks.

The PRA’s role as a rulemaker was further expanded following the introduction of FSMA 2023. Under the new regulatory framework , the PRA will continue to be a strong, accountable, responsive, and accessible policymaker, and make rules to meet its regulatory obligations, while adopting a risk-based approach, as set out in CP27/23 , in a way that is tailored to the specific features of financial services in the UK. Among other things, the PRA will continue to faithfully implement agreed international standards and reforms in a way that best serves the UK. For example, in 2024 the PRA will publish its final rules on the implementation of the Basel 3.1 standards and on replacing relevant and/or remaining firm-facing Solvency II requirements from assimilated law with the PRA’s own rules, which will become part of the PRA’s Rulebook and other policy materials. In addition, the PRA will move further towards finalising and implementing the Strong and Simple prudential framework , which provides a simpler but robust set of prudential rules for non-systemic, domestic-focused banks and building societies in the UK.

The PRA will also continue to pay particular attention to the business opportunities and threats that are posed by changes in the economic environment, both in the UK and other jurisdictions, that could pose risks to the UK.

The PRA will continue to promote a strong risk culture among regulated firms, including a conscious and controlled approach to risk taking activities, and ensure that this is supported by adequate financial and non-financial resources. At the same time, the PRA will maintain a robust regulatory regime that is able to respond to the external factors that pose the greatest risk to firms’ safety and soundness.

Risk factors also include global geopolitical risks, which have intensified over the past year. The PRA will continue to ensure that PRA-regulated firms are resilient to such risks by liaising with both domestic and international regulatory counterparts and continuing to monitor and engage with affected firms. Effective international collaboration remains central to addressing global risks and maintaining UK financial stability as well as the safety and soundness of internationally active firms.

The PRA will monitor and assess firms’ ability to manage cyber threats through the ongoing use of threat-led penetration testing ( CBEST and STAR-FS ) and the cyber questionnaire ( CQUEST ). In collaboration with the FCA, including in response to known technology, cyber and third-party incidents, the PRA will continue to monitor and engage with firms on their execution of large and complex IT change programmes. Furthermore, the FPC’s cyber stress testing has broadened the PRA’s understanding of how operational disruptions such as cyberattacks may affect financial stability.

The PRA will continue to engage in collective action to develop a view on sector-wide risks, support the building of firm- and sector-level resilience, and enhance the sector’s ability to respond to system-wide disruption. This will include ongoing sector engagement through the Cross-Market Operational Resilience Group (CMORG), which delivers industry guidance, response capabilities, and technical solutions, and through cross-jurisdictional coordination via the G7 Cyber Experts Group (CEG). Through CMORG, the PRA will deliver a sector-wide simulation exercise (SIMEX24) to assess the sector’s resilience to major operational disruption. The PRA will continue to develop its ability to respond to operational incidents in the sector through its authorities ( Authorities Response Framework ) and sector ( Cross Market Business Continuity Group ) response mechanisms.

Financial resilience – banking

Implementation of the basel 3.1 standards.

In March 2023, the PRA concluded its consultation on proposals published in November 2022 about the parts of the Basel III standards that remain to be implemented in the UK (‘Basel 3.1’). In September 2023, the PRA announced that it would split the publication of the near-final Basel 3.1 rules in two, moving implementation back by six months to 1 July 2025 to reduce the transitional period to 4.5 years and ensure full implementation by 1 January 2030, in line with the proposals set out in CP16/22. The first near-final PS17/23 – Implementation of the Basel 3.1 standards near-final part 1 , covering market risk, credit valuation adjustment risk, counterparty credit risk, and operational risk, was published in December 2023. The PRA will publish the second near-final PS, covering the remaining elements of credit risk, the output floor, as well as Pillar 3 disclosure and reporting requirements, in due course.

The near-final rules from the two PSs will be made final once Parliament has revoked the relevant parts of the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR). The PRA expects this to happen later in 2024. In addition to finalising Basel 3.1 rules, the PRA will continue to increase its supervisory focus on firms’ implementation plans.

Bank stress testing

The concurrent stress testing of firms is one of the key tools used by the PRA and the Bank to support their microprudential and macroprudential objectives. Banking stress tests examine the potential impact of a hypothetical scenario on the major UK banks and building societies that make up the banking system, and on the system as a whole. The PRA normally runs two types of banking stress test – the annual cyclical scenario and other exploratory scenarios.

In 2024, the PRA will support the Bank in taking stock of and updating its framework for concurrent bank stress testing. The stocktake will draw on lessons from the first decade of concurrent stress testing, and so ensure that the framework continues to support the FPC and PRC in meeting its objectives. The PRA will also contribute to supporting the Bank’s desk-based stress test in 2024, which is being conducted in place of an ACS. The desk-based exercise will make use of the PRA’s risk expertise along with models developed in the PRA and elsewhere in the Bank to test the financial resilience of the UK banking system under more than one adverse macroeconomic scenario. Stress testing exercises involving firm submissions of stressed projections are currently expected to resume in 2025.

In addition, the Bank is conducting a system-wide exploratory scenario (SWES), working closely with and with the full support of the PRA, FCA, and TPR (The Pensions Regulator). The exercise was launched in June 2023 and aims to improve the understanding of the behaviours of banks and non-bank financial institutions (NBFI) in stressed financial market conditions. The participating firms in this exercise are representative of markets that are core to UK financial stability.

Private equity and credit

The evolving macro environment is expected to challenge firms’ approach to risk management, increasing the need for robust governance, risk management, and controls. One area of focus for the PRA will be exposures to NBFI, particularly any challenges that may manifest around the trend toward illiquid private equity financing and private credit. The PRA will continue to closely monitor private asset financing and the way that firms consider the risks they could face from these activities. In particular, the PRA will look for further improvements in firms’ ability to identify and assess correlations across financing activities with multiple clients.

Replacing assimilated law

HMT has prioritised the CRR as one of the initial areas of focus in the process of transferring assimilated law into the supervisory authorities’ rules and legislation following the enactment of FSMA 2023. The latter granted the PRA expanded rulemaking powers to replace assimilated law with PRA rules, thereby moving towards a more British system of regulation. In 2024/25, the PRA will consult on proposed rules to replace, with modifications where appropriate, the relevant firm-facing provisions in Part Two of the CRR.

Model risk management (MRM) and internal ratings-based approach/hybrid models

Banks’ use of and reliance on models and scenario analysis to assess future risks has increased significantly over the past decade. The introduction of new, sophisticated modelling techniques – including the potential use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) – has highlighted the need for sound model governance and effective model risk management practices.

In 2023, the PRA published a supervisory statement (SS)1/23 – Model risk management principles for banks , which applies to firms with internal model (IM) approval to calculate regulatory capital requirements. It is structured around five high-level principles that set out the core disciplines necessary for a robust model risk management framework to manage model risk effectively across all model and risk types. The adoption of these principles will help banks to develop good practices of model risk management, raising prudential standards at banks operating in the UK. The new policy comes into effect on 17 May 2024. Banks within the scope of the policy are expected to conduct an initial self-assessment against these principles, and, where relevant, prepare remediation plans to address any identified shortcomings.

During 2024, the PRA will focus on how banks are embedding and implementing the expectations set out in SS1/23. In particular, the PRA will seek to understand the extent to which banks’ management teams are adopting the principles and promoting the management of model risk as a risk discipline in its own right across their firms.

The PRA has published a range of policy statements on changes to the internal ratings-based (IRB) approach to credit risk over recent years. footnote [6] The PRA will continue to work with firms as they progress their model approval and review submissions in line with these requirements and expectations. The PRA will focus on the ‘hybrid’ approach to mortgage modelling, and the IRB repair programme, both carried forward from previous years.

Where appropriate, firms are holding post-model adjustments (PMAs) in the form of risk-weighted asset (RWA) add-ons, helping to mitigate potential capital underestimation while they develop their new models. During 2024, the PRA will continue to assess the adequacy of the PMAs to ensure any potential capital underestimation is addressed.

Liquidity risk management

The events of 2023 brought a further focus on the liquidity and funding risks faced by deposit takers, in particular the deposit outflows experienced by CS and SVB leading up to their acquisition and resolution, respectively.

The PRA will continue its close supervision of firms’ liquidity and funding risks in light of recent stresses. Through its ongoing supervision of banks and building societies, the PRA will follow up on how firms are taking account of the lessons they learnt from the events at CS and SVB. The PRA will continue to use its regular programme of Liquidity Supervisory Review and Evaluation Processes (L-SREPs) across PRA-authorised firms to assess their liquidity and funding risks, in quantitative and qualitative terms, and to ensure appropriate financial and non-financial resources are in place to manage and mitigate these risks.

The PRA will also continue to engage with firms and within the wider Bank on PRA-authorised firms’ access to the Bank’s Sterling Monetary Framework .

The PRA will also monitor closely how firms consider changes in depositor behaviour in the current funding environment and proactively take into consideration forthcoming changes in bank funding and liquidity conditions. footnote [7]

Credit risk management

The PRA is closely monitoring firms’ credit risk management practices given the uncertain credit risk outlook across key markets. The PRA’s assessment will include a focus on how credit risk management practices have evolved – in particular, how they can remain robust and adaptable to changing conditions, whether there is appropriate consideration of downside and contagion risks, as well as firms’ monitoring and planning for the impacts of customer refinancing. The PRA will undertake a thematic review of smaller firms’ credit risk management frameworks during 2024/25.

The PRA will monitor changes to firms’ business mix and credit exposures, and continue to monitor vulnerable segments, including cyclical sectors and key international portfolios, as well as traditionally higher-risk portfolios such as buy-to-let, credit cards, unsecured personal loans, small to medium-sized enterprises, leveraged lending, and commercial real estate. In addition, counterparty credit risk will remain a key area of supervisory focus through 2024, especially exposures to NBFI across certain business lines.

Separately, in 2024, the PRA will continue to progress its review of regulatory policies to assess whether the policy framework for trading book risk management, controls, and culture is adequate, robust, and accessible.

The UK banking system is well capitalised. However, the overall operating and risk environment remains challenging, and firms must manage their financial resilience to ensure that the financial sector can continue to support businesses and households. The PRA will continue to assess firms’ capital positions and planning, including firms’ use of forward-looking capital indicators, stress testing, and contingency plans.

The PRA intends to review its Pillar 2A methodologies (see section ‘Review of the Pillar 2 framework’ of PS17/23 ) for banks after the rules on Basel 3.1 are finalised, with a view to consulting on any proposed changes in 2025.

Securitisation regulation

HMT has prioritised the Securitisation Regulation as one of the initial areas of focus in the process of transferring assimilated law into regulatory rules and legislation following the enactment of FSMA 2023. The PRA will publish its final policy (simultaneously with the FCA) on final rules to replace or modify the relevant firm-facing provisions in the Securitisation Regulation and related Technical Standards in 2024-25.

The PRA also intends to consult on draft PRA rules to replace firm-facing requirements, subject to HMT making the necessary legislation. The PRA has gathered views and evidence from firms through DP3/23 – Securitisation: capital requirements , which will inform its approach to capital requirements for securitisation.

Financial resilience – insurers

Solvency uk implementation.

In June 2024, the PRA will publish its final policy on the matching adjustment (MA) reforms set out in CP19/23 – Review of Solvency II: Reform of the Matching Adjustment . The majority of these reforms will take effect from end-June to allow PRA-authorised firms to take immediate advantage of new investment opportunities. The remaining Solvency II reforms consulted upon in CP12/23 – Review of Solvency II: Adapting to the UK insurance market will take effect on 31 December 2024.

To facilitate implementation of the reforms consulted on in CP12/23 and CP19/23, the PRA will streamline the application processes for new internal model permissions and variations of existing permissions. There will be similar proposals for MA permissions, if the final policy is the same as set out in the CP. The PRA remains committed to assessing and providing decisions on applications for permissions as quickly as possible and aims to do this within the timescales published in the associated statements of policy. This will be supported by the establishment of dedicated, specialised teams for reviewing applications.

In practice, delivering timely decisions will in part depend on good engagement between firms and the PRA during the application process, and on the preparation of high-quality and complete applications by firms. To facilitate this, the PRA will publish templates for use by firms , including templates for reporting the updated Matching Adjustment Asset and Liability Information Return (MALIR) and the Analysis of Change (AoC) and Quarterly Model Change (QMC) for internal models. These measures are intended to assist with a smooth transition to the Solvency UK regime.

A variety of proposals were made in responses to CP19/23 to further reform the MA in the form of so-called ‘sandboxes’, which would allow an element of self-certification of eligibility, or a route to further expand eligibility in response to innovations in primary financing markets. In 2024, the PRA will explore these proposals with industry with the goal of determining whether they can be developed into schemes that further advance the objectives of the Solvency II review.

Solvency II reporting reforms

To deliver the regulatory reporting and disclosure reforms consulted on in CP14/22 and CP12/23 , the PRA published PS3/24 – Review of Solvency II: Reporting and disclosure phase 2 near-final , including finalised templates and instruction files. The PRA will also publish a finalised single taxonomy package in 2024 Q2, which encompasses proposals in CP14/22 and CP12/23 , and deletions published in PS29/21 . The PRA will engage with firms, including through industry roundtables, to prepare them in meeting the new reporting requirements coming into force from 31 December 2024.

Solvency II transfer

The PRA will publish a CP in 2024 H1 that will set out how it will transfer the remaining Solvency II requirements from assimilated law into the PRA Rulebook and other policy material such as supervisory statements or statements of policy (‘the UK framework’).

This will provide a more comprehensive Rulebook and will make it easier for firms to access and navigate the rules that apply to them.

Insurance stress testing

Stress testing forms an important part of the PRA’s supervisory approach and risk assessment of insurance firms, helping to assess and identify the vulnerabilities of life and general insurance sectors to a range of risks in different scenarios.

Major life insurers participate in regular and concurrent stress testing prescribed by the PRA, and the next test will take place in 2025. For the first time, the PRA will publish the individual results of the largest annuity-writing firms to help inform stakeholders about the level of firms’ resilience in the scenarios set out, and thereby strengthen market discipline.

The PRA will continue to engage with the industry on the technical, operational, and communication aspects of the stress test, and will publish an approach document for the life insurance stress test 2025. The 2025 test will for the first time include an exploratory scenario to assess exposure to the recapture of funded reinsurance contracts.

For general insurers, the PRA has previously conducted four general insurance stress test exercises between 2015 and 2022. In 2025, the PRA will run its first dynamic stress test . The objectives of the exercise will be to:

• assess the industry’s solvency and liquidity resilience to a specific adverse scenario;
• assess the effectiveness of insurers’ risk management and management actions following an adverse scenario; and
• inform the PRA’s supervisory response following a market-wide adverse scenario.

The dynamic nature of the 2025 exercise represents a significant change from previous exercises and will involve simulating a sequential set of adverse events over a short period of time. The PRA has begun engaging with industry trade bodies and will provide more details of this exercise (including participation, design, and timelines) during 2024. Results of this exercise will be disclosed at an aggregate industry level.

Cyber underwriting risk

As the scope of technology continues to expand globally, cyber underwriting risk has become increasingly relevant, as reflected in the actual and planned growth of cyber insurance within the UK sector. As well as being inherently volatile and systemic in nature, cyber underwriting risk is diverse in how it can manifest in different lines of business.

Given the uncertainty of this risk, robust risk management, risk appetite-setting, and stress testing will be important factors in ensuring that capital and exposure management capabilities reflect firms’ actual exposures.

Monitoring and assessing cyber underwriting risk will be at the core of the PRA’s supervisory focus, particularly for firms with material exposures. The PRA will share the aggregate findings of its recent thematic project focused on cyber underwriting risk with industry, and continue to monitor the risk landscape and market dynamics to identify and assess potential risk drivers, including areas such as contract (un)certainty risk.

Model drift

The PRA will continue its scrutiny of internal models used by insurers to calculate capital requirements and aid risk management, to identify potential trends in the strength of firms’ calibrations, and as an indicator of the effectiveness of firms’ risk management.

In its 2023 model drift analysis , the PRA identified a number of findings across firms using internal models within the non-life sector. These are related to levels of allowances for inflation uncertainty, potential optimism in expected underwriting profits, potential optimism in the cost and benefit of reinsurance, and the limited allowance for economic and geopolitical uncertainties.

In 2024, the PRA will address perceived systemic trends that may weaken the robustness of models used across the market as a whole. The PRA will also focus on specific model drift within individual firms, with an emphasis on improving the effectiveness of internal model validation, so that firms can develop the capability to self-identify and address potential challenges.

Funded reinsurance

In 2024, the PRA will continue to pay close attention to the rapidly increasing use of funded reinsurance transactions in the UK life insurance market, and the risks that the growth in their use may pose to policyholder protection and UK financial stability. The PRA is particularly focused on the risk of an erosion in standards for assets used as collateral in these transactions, and individual and sectoral concentrated exposures to correlated, credit-focused counterparties.

As well as preparing to examine exposures to the recapture of funded reinsurance in the 2025 life insurance stress test, in 2024. The PRA will also, subject to responses to CP24/23 – Funded reinsurance , finalise and implement its policy expectations for UK life insurers that use funded reinsurance arrangements. As stated in the PRA’s letter on ‘ Insurance supervision: 2024 priorities ’, these policy expectations will cover how firms should manage risks associated with funded reinsurance at both individual transaction and at aggregate level. This will include the expectation that firms place limits on their activities to ensure sound risk management.

Impact on general and claims inflation

Claims inflation continues to be a significant risk for general insurers. Following a thematic review, the PRA published a Dear Chief Actuary letter in June 2023 setting out its findings that, while reserves have increased, there remains material uncertainty and the potential for excessive optimism with respect to reserving, pricing, and capital and reinsurance planning.

The PRA expects a continued lag in the emergence of claims inflation in the data, which insurers should be alert to. The PRA will continue to monitor the ongoing impact through the regulatory data collected and supervisory activities throughout 2024. Should the PRA’s assessment of this risk change, further focused work may be considered.

Market-wide stresses in March 2020 and September 2022 highlighted gaps in insurers’ liquidity risk management frameworks and, consequently, the importance of having comparable, accurate, and timely information on insurers’ liquidity. The PRA will build on the existing liquidity framework, currently based on risk management expectations set out in SS5/19 – Liquidity risk management for insurers , and develop liquidity reporting requirements for insurance firms most exposed to liquidity risk. The information collected will be used to supervise firms’ liquidity positions more effectively and produce meaningful peer comparisons. The PRA will work closely with firms to inform them about its development of these requirements and explore the necessity of a minimum liquidity requirement as part of a future policy consultation.

In addition, the Bank has signalled its intention to develop a new lending tool for eligible NBFIs to help tackle future episodes of severe dysfunction in core markets that threaten UK financial stability. The development of the PRA’s approach to supervising liquidity will therefore inform the design of the lending tool as it relates to insurers.

The reforms to Solvency II offer life insurers opportunities to expand the range of credit risk assets that are used to back their annuity liabilities, and enable them to meet their commitment to invest in assets that contribute to the productivity of the economy and the transition to net zero. These opportunities require sophisticated credit risk management, and insurers’ capabilities will remain a key focus. Increased activity in the bulk purchase annuity (BPA) market is expected to lead to further growth in firms’ exposure to credit risk, and potentially to concentrations in exposure to internally valued and rated assets.

The PRA will continue to focus on the effectiveness of firms’ credit risk management capabilities and seek further assurance that firms’ internal credit assessments appropriately reflect the risk profile of their asset holdings. The PRA will assess how firms’ credit risk management frameworks are evolving in line with its supervisory expectations, and also review the suitability of firms’ current and forward-looking internal credit assessment validation plans and approaches. In both cases, the PRA will seek to provide feedback on a firm-specific or thematic basis as appropriate.

Regulatory reforms

Operational risk and resilience (including the implementation of the critical third-party regime).

Operational disruption can impact financial stability, threaten the safety and soundness of individual firms and financial market infrastructures, or cause harm to consumers, policyholders, and other parts of the financial system. The PRA defines operational resilience as the ability of firms and the financial sector to prevent, respond to, recover, and learn from operational disruptions, including cyber threats.

The FCA, Bank, and PRA’s operational resilience policies came into force in March 2022 . Firms have now identified their most important business services, set impact tolerances, and commenced a programme of scenario testing. The PRA will continue to work closely with the FCA to assess firms’ progress, with a particular focus on the ability of firms to deliver important business services within defined impact tolerances during severe but plausible scenarios over a reasonable time frame, and no later than March 2025.

The PRA will also continue to monitor threats to firms’ resilience, including their growing dependency on third parties, while respecting the principle of proportionality.

Critical third parties to the UK financial sector

Section 312L of FSMA 2023 gave HMT the power to designate certain third-party service providers as ‘critical’ if they provide services to the financial sector, which, if disrupted or subject to failure, could cause financial stability concerns or risks to the confidence in the UK’s financial system. Prior to designating these parties, HMT must consult with the Bank, PRA, and FCA (the authorities the Act appoints as Regulators of the new regime). FSMA 2023 also gives the Regulators new powers to oversee the services provided by critical third parties (CTPs) to regulated firms. In December 2023, the PRA, Bank, and FCA jointly published CP26/23 – Operational resilience: Critical third parties to the UK financial sector , proposing how these powers could be used to assess and strengthen the resilience of services provided by CTPs to firms and FMIs, thereby reducing the risk of systemic disruption. The PRA will continue to work with other authorities to develop the final policy and oversight approach in 2024.

Additionally, the PRA is developing regulatory expectations on incident reporting, aligned with its operational resilience expectations.

Review of enforcement policies

Enforcement supports and supplements the PRA’s regulatory and supervisory tools by ensuring that it has credible mechanisms for holding regulated firms to account when they do not meet requirements and expectations. Enforcement policies also provide a wider deterrent effect. The PRA is therefore committed to holding individuals to account and, when appropriate, taking regulatory and/or enforcement action against those individuals that breach its standards. The PRA clearly sets out, for the benefit of the whole regulated community, the actions and standards of behaviour that are considered unacceptable ( The Bank of England’s approach to enforcement ).

In January 2024, following a review of its policies and public consultation, the PRA published PS1/24 – The Bank of England's approach to enforcement , which sets out the revised approach to enforcement across the Bank’s full remit (including when acting as the PRA).

The PRA is committed to conducting any enforcement investigations as promptly and efficiently as possible. In line with that aim, PS1/24 introduced a new Early Account Scheme (EAS or ‘the Scheme’), which provides for a new path for early cooperation and greater incentives for early admissions with the aim of reaching outcomes more quickly in specific cases.

Diversity and inclusion in PRA-regulated firms

Enhancing diversity and inclusion (D&I) can support better governance, decision-making, and risk management in firms by reducing groupthink and promoting a culture that allows employees to feel able to speak up and challenge the status quo.

In September 2023, the PRA published CP18/23 – Diversity and inclusion in PRA-regulated firms . Under the proposals, all in-scope firms would need to understand their D&I position, develop appropriate strategies to make meaningful progress, and monitor and report on progress. The proposals are flexible and carefully tailored to recognise that firms are at different stages of their work on D&I, and, most importantly, are best placed to develop their own D&I solutions.

The PRA also outlined that the proposals in CP18/23 contribute towards its secondary objectives of ensuring effective competition and facilitating competitiveness and growth, because enhanced D&I can help support greater innovation and make firms more attractive in the labour market.

In 2024, the PRA will continue its industry engagement, assess responses to CP18/23, and provide a further update in due course.

The PRA maintains flexibility to adapt and respond to changes in the external environment, economic and market developments, and any other risks that may affect its statutory objectives or priorities. The PRA has continued to use its horizon-scanning programme to achieve the following aims:

• identify emerging external risks, regulatory arbitrage, and potentially dangerous practices;
• highlight features of the regulatory regime that are not yet delivering the desired results; and
• allocate supervisory and policy resources to tackling the highest-priority risks in a timely manner.

Consistent with its mission, the PRA will continue to contribute to lessons learned internationally, policy/standards evaluation, and, in particular, internationally agreed standards with the aim of promoting the safety and soundness of the firms it regulates. For example, in 2024/25, the PRA will continue to focus on identifying and addressing emerging risks internationally, working closely with the BCBS on its response to consultations launched in 2023 (including on cryptoassets; disclosure for climate-related financial risks; and the Basel Core Principles and other outstanding work in support of its 2023/24 work programme and strategic priorities ). The PRA will also continue to work closely with the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) on its finalisation of the Insurance Capital Standard (ICS), Insurance Core Principles on valuation (ICP 14) and capital adequacy (ICP17) .

In addition, the PRA will continue to monitor the potential for capital and profit erosion in firms that are slower to adopt new technologies, as well as firms’ involvement in new technologies, and changes in the profile of cyber-risks they face.

International engagement and influencing regulatory standards

The PRA plays a leading role in influencing international regulatory standards and will continue to participate actively in global standard-setting bodies, such as the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) , the IAIS, and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) .

Building on the BCBS’s report on the 2023 banking turmoil , the PRA will work with international stakeholders and the BCBS to strengthen supervisory effectiveness and identify issues that could merit additional guidance at a global level. The PRA will work with BCBS to pursue additional follow-up analytical work based on empirical evidence to assess whether specific features of the Basel Framework have performed as intended, such as liquidity risk and interest rate risk in the banking book, and assess the need to explore policy options over the medium term, alongside supporting the BCBS in pursuing its medium-term programme on evaluating the impact and efficacy of Basel III, and in light of lessons drawn from the Covid-19 pandemic.

In addition, the PRA pursues international collaboration through less formal mechanisms, for example through regular bilateral and trilateral engagements, ensuring close collaboration on a number of supervision, risk, and policy topics of joint interest. The PRA also collaborates internationally on joint global thematic reviews with other regulatory authorities, for example, to address a joint interest in banks’ exposures to NBFIs and the use of critical third parties.

The PRA will also continue to support international efforts to monitor and promote consistent implementation of Basel 3.1, as well as the implementation and monitoring of the ICS.

Supervisory co-operation

Effective international collaboration remains crucial to addressing global risks, and is central to maintaining UK financial stability, the safety and soundness of internationally active firms, and reducing regulatory arbitrage.

The PRA will continue to promote international collaboration through supervisory colleges and set out clear expectations for firms wanting to branch into the UK. The PRA will also maintain its existing memoranda of understanding (MoUs) and, if needed, expand the number of jurisdictions with which it has an MoU to facilitate the supervision of international groups and therefore enhance the safety and openness of the UK for financial services activities.

The PRA will continue to support HMT via its international collaboration activities (eg The Berne Financial Services Agreement ) and with assessments of other jurisdictions to facilitate safe access to overseas markets for UK firms, among other benefits.

Overseas bank branches

The PRA will consult on targeted refinements to its approach to banks branching into the UK, reflecting lessons from the failure of SVB to ensure the PRA’s framework for assessing branches captures activities of potential concern. The PRA is committed to the UK remaining a responsibly open jurisdiction for branches, and expects the vast majority of branch business to be unaffected by any changes. The PRA also intends to consult on clarifying expectations for group entity senior manager functions (SMFs) footnote [8] and expectations of booking arrangements.

Operational and cyber resilience

The PRA engages internationally on operational and cyber resilience, in support of its supervision objectives and to raise international standards. The PRA co-chairs the G7 Cyber Expert Group (CEG), which works to coordinate cyber resilience strategy and management across G7 jurisdictions. The PRA also co-chairs the European Systemic Cyber Group (ESCG), which helps European authorities develop systemic capabilities to prevent and mitigate risks to the financial system that might emanate from cyber incidents. The PRA has also led work at the Financial Stability Board (FSB) on cyber incident reporting. In 2024, the PRA will continue to engage with standard-setting bodies and bilaterally with other jurisdictions on third-party risk management and CTPs.

Managing the financial risks arising from climate change

Climate change presents a source of material and increasing financial risk to firms and the financial system. Managing the risks to firms’ safety and soundness from climate change requires action and remains a key priority for the PRA. The Bank first set out expectations around enhancing banks’ and insurers’ approaches to managing the financial risks emanating from climate change in April 2019 via SS3/19 –  Enhancing banks’ and insurers’ approaches to managing the financial risks from climate change . The PRA has since provided further guidance via two Dear CEO letters, footnote [9] incorporating observations from supervisory processes and the 2022 Climate Biennial Exploratory Scenario exercise , as well as by providing thematic feedback via Dear CFO letters footnote [10] to promote high-quality and consistent accounting for climate change .

As noted in its 2024 priorities letter to firms, the PRA expects firms to make further progress and demonstrate how they are responding to the PRA’s expectations, and to set out the steps they are taking to address barriers to progress. The PRA will continue to assess firms’ progress in managing climate-related financial risks. In 2024, the PRA will commence work to update SS3/19 and publish thematic findings on banks’ processes to quantify the impact of climate risks on expected credit losses.

The PRA, alongside the FCA, will continue to work with industry through the Climate Financial Risk Forum to produce practical guides and tools that help financial firms embed the financial risks from climate change into their operations. The PRA will also continue to engage with domestic and international partners, including international standard-setters, to contribute to the development of international frameworks in support of managing climate-related risks.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Following the publication of a feedback statement (FS)2/23 – Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning , the PRA and FCA intends to conduct the third edition of the joint survey on machine learning in UK financial services , in 2024 Q2. Responses to the survey will allow the PRA and FCA to further explore how best to address the issues/risks posed by AI/ML in a way that is aligned with the PRA’s and FCA’s statutory objectives. The PRA will also continue to monitor firms’ compliance of its expectations, as set out in SS1/23 , and will seek to explore further updates where necessary.

International policy on digitalisation and managing associated risks

The PRA aims to be at the forefront of identifying and responding to opportunities and risks faced by PRA-authorised firms as they seek to use technology in innovative ways to attract and retain customers, reduce costs, and increase efficiencies.

External context and business risk are important facets of the PRA’s approach to supervision. Developments are monitored, with specialist input from the Bank’s Fintech Hub , to identify risks such as fragmentation of the value chain, novel outsourcing arrangements, and concentration risks across and within firms.

In order to take a responsive and responsibly open approach, the PRA will continue to consider policy proposals to respond to digitalisation and adapt its supervisory approach accordingly. Through the New Bank Start-up and Insurer Start-Up Units, the PRA will continue to engage with applicant firms that have novel uses of technology. The PRA will continue to work closely with domestic and international partners, and through engagement with industry and stakeholders, to take a pro-active approach to digital innovations within the financial sector.

The PRA is a significant contributor to discussions on digitalisation in international standard-setting fora, and will continue to support the BCBS’s work on the developments in the digitalisation of finance and the implications for banks and supervisors . The PRA will also continue be an active part of the IAIS Fintech Forum.

Digital money and innovation

In February 2023, HMT published a consultation and Call for Evidence on the future financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets , focused on enhancing market integrity, custody requirements, and transparency. The consultation closed in October 2023 with the publication of an update on the government’s plans for its legislative approach to the regulation of stablecoins. HMT confirmed that tokenised deposits would continue to be regulated as deposits. The PRA will continue to work with HMT and the FCA to ensure that the regulatory perimeter and the boundaries between different activities are clearly and robustly delineated.

In November 2023, the Bank, PRA, and FCA published a cross-authority package on innovations in money and payments . As part of this, the PRA published a Dear CEO letter to provide clarity on the PRA’s expectation on how deposit-takers should address risks arising from the emergence of multiple forms of digital money and money-like instruments. footnote [11] It published the letter alongside the Bank’s proposed regime for systemic payment systems using stablecoins and related service providers , and the FCA’s proposed regime for stablecoin issuers, custodians, and the use of stablecoins as a means of payment. A roadmap paper was also published to explain how these regimes fit together.

The PRA will continue to contribute to the Bank’s broader work on innovation in money and payments, which in 2024 will include work on wholesale payments and settlements – and their interaction with retail payments.

In 2024, the PRA will continue to work within the global regulatory community to finalise a set of amendments made to the international standard on the treatment of banks’ cryptoassets exposures. These amendments were published for consultation by the Basel Committee in December 2023, following the finalisation of the standard in 2022.

Once the amendments are finalised, the PRA will implement the standard within the UK, following the PRA’s policymaking process. Alongside this, the PRA will continue to engage with international partners, including the BCBS, to assess bank-related developments in cryptoassets markets, the role of banks as issuers of stablecoins and tokenised deposits, custodians of cryptoassets, and potential channels of interconnections with the cryptoassets ecosystem.

The PRA advances its primary and secondary objectives by making rules that support competitive and dynamic markets in the sectors that it regulates. The PRA will go further in developing proportionate and efficient prudential requirements, thereby reducing the burden on firms where appropriate, and pursuing its secondary objectives. The PRA also remains committed to playing an active role in international standard-setting, given the important role of global rules in safeguarding the UK’s open economy through ensuring safe financial markets.

Regulatory change – embedding the PRA’s approach to rule-making

FSMA 2023 has significantly changed the powers and responsibilities of the PRA, allowing it to ensure the UK financial services framework is fit for the future, reflecting the UK’s position outside of the EU. FSMA 2023 also introduces enhanced objectives and accountability requirements that support the PRA’s transparency and accountability to Parliament.

FSMA 2023 provides a framework to repeal and replace assimilated law relating to financial services. Most technical rules will now be made by operationally independent regulators within a framework set by Parliament, enabling the PRA to deliver policies better suited to the UK financial sector. The PRA’s responsibility, in cooperation with HMT and FCA, is to ensure that the new rules are made in accordance with the PRA’s remit and statutory objectives, including the new secondary competitiveness and growth objective.

The PRA has worked closely with HMT and FCA on the sequencing of the repeal and the replacement of the files of assimilated law. Once the replacement material is in PRA rules, the PRA will have the power to evaluate these rules, amend them if needed, and/or create new rules when required.

The PRA has already made good progress with respect to the files that HMT has prioritised into the first two ‘tranches’, including key files such as Solvency II, Securitisation, CRR, among others. The PRA has consulted on significant parts of tranches 1 and 2 in 2023 and will continue this work throughout 2024 and 2025. The completion of the repeal and replacement of Solvency II and Securities Regulation files is expected by the end of 2024, and the last of the PRA's tranche 1 and 2 files is planned for implementation in 2026. Work on the remaining files that were not included in tranches 1 and 2 will begin in 2024.

The PRA is consulting its stakeholders as it develops its approach to policymaking in light of the new requirements. In December 2023, the PRA published CP27/23 , setting out the proposed approach to policy under the regulatory framework as amended by FSMA 2023, and building on the previously published DP4/22 – The Prudential Regulation Authority’s future approach to policy . CP27/23 outlines the PRA's planned approach to maintain robust prudential standards, which are the cornerstone of UK financial stability and long-term economic growth, while addressing risks and opportunities in a responsive manner, appropriately adapted to the circumstances of the UK. Responses to CP27/23 will inform the PRA’s finalised approach document to be published in 2024 H2.

Secondary competitiveness and growth objective (SCGO)

FSMA 2023 gave the PRA a new secondary objective which requires the PRA to act, so far as reasonably possible, to facilitate the UK economy’s international competitiveness (including in particular the financial services sector through the contribution of PRA-authorised persons) and its growth over the medium to long term, subject to alignment with international standards. FSMA 2023 maintained the PRA’s other objectives without change.

In addition to specific policy measures, the PRA has taken practical steps to embed the SCGO in its operations, including through internal changes, and the launch of a research programme to deepen its understanding of the ways prudential requirements can affect the international competitiveness and growth of the UK economy.

The PRA will continue to look for ways in which it can facilitate the UK’s competitiveness and growth when discharging its general functions. The approach focuses on strengthening the three regulatory foundations that were set out in CP27/23, specifically:

• Maintaining trust among domestic and foreign firms in the PRA and UK prudential framework via a range of policies, including those that promote strong prudential standards appropriately calibrated for the UK, and the alignment of said policies with international standards.
• Adopting effective regulatory processes and engagement, including providing for the efficient handling of regulatory processes, such as authorisations and data collections, as well as facilitating the accessibility of the PRA Rulebook to reduce the operating costs of firms.
• Taking a responsive and responsibly open approach to UK risks and opportunities, including making rules that account more effectively for the needs of the UK. This approach means responding faster to emerging risks and opportunities in the UK financial sector, for example, by using regulatory tools to support innovation safely. To this end, in 2024, the PRA will hold a pilot roundtable to gather stakeholders’ views on how the PRA can help to reduce the barriers to innovation that the industry faces.

The policy initiatives discussed in the rest of this section provide examples of how the PRA will advance its secondary objectives in 2024/25.

Furthermore, the Bank’s Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) is evaluating the PRA’s approach to its new secondary objective. Both the outcome of the IEO’s evaluation and the PRA’s response to it will be included in the PRA’s – ‘Secondary Objectives Report’ to be published alongside the PRA’s Annual Report 2023/24. The Secondary Objectives Report will also give an overview of all the PRA’s policy initiatives that have advanced the SCO and the SCGO .

Strong and Simple framework

In 2021, the PRA published FS1/21 – A strong and simple prudential framework for non-systemic banks and building societies , that set out a vision to simplify prudential requirements for smaller, domestic-focused banks and building societies, while maintaining those firms’ resilience.

As outlined in the PRA 2023/24 Business Plan , the PRA will continue its planned programme of work on creating a simpler but equally resilient prudential framework for smaller, domestically focused banks and building societies, known as the Strong and Simple framework. This framework is designed to maintain the financial resilience of banks and building societies operating in the UK, while reducing costs associated with prudential requirements for non-systemic banks and building societies. In 2023/24, the PRA published its final policy on scope criteria and simplified liquidity and disclosure requirements for SDDTs in PS15/23.

In December 2023, the PRA published PS16/23 – The Strong and Simple Framework: Scope criteria, liquidity and disclosure requirements , which finalises the scope of the framework. The PS builds on the first layer of the Strong and Simple framework, which focused on the smallest firms and is known as the SDDT regime. The overall aim of the framework is to maintain the financial resilience of banks and building societies operating in the UK, while addressing the ‘complexity problem,’ under which the same prudential requirements are applied to all firms, regardless of size, even though the costs of interpreting and operationalising those requirements are higher for small firms, relative to the associated public policy benefits.

In 2024/25, the PRA will move further towards finalising and implementing the Strong and Simple prudential framework for SDDTs. A key step will be to implement the simplifications to liquidity requirements that were introduced in Phase 1. The PRA will also finalise the rules for the Interim Capital Regime, which will allow firms eligible to be SDDTs to stay under capital rules equivalent to those currently in place until the simplified capital regime for SDDTs is implemented. The PRA plans to consult on a simplified capital regime for SDDTs in 2024 Q2.

Insurance Special Purpose Vehicles regime

In 2017, the PRA introduced a framework for the authorisation and supervision of ISPVs to provide guidance for parties wishing to obtain authorisation as an ISPV, or for insurers and reinsurers seeking to use UK ISPVs as risk mitigation in accordance with Solvency II.

The UK ISPV regime has not seen as much activity as originally envisaged. While new issuances of insurance-linked securitisations (ILS) transactions in the UK over the last two years have exceeded USD400 million, there are steps to be taken which can improve the regime and increase its usage.

The PRA has been in discussion with industry on this matter with the aim of understanding the key areas of the regime in which market participants would recommend changes.

The PRA expects to consult on a package of reforms to the UK ISPV regime. These reforms are intended to:

• allow a wider range of transaction structures in the UK regime;
• improve the speed of the application process, and thereby also reduce costs for applicants; and
• clarify the PRA’s expectations of UK insurers who cede risks to ISPVs, wherever they are established.

Remuneration reforms

The PRA’s remuneration rules ensure that key decision-makers and material risk-takers at PRA-regulated firms have the right incentives and can be held accountable. In 2023, following consultation, the PRA removed the bonus cap and made changes to its rules to enhance proportionality for small firms .

In advancing its primary and secondary objectives, the PRA is considering further changes to the remuneration regime that is better suited to the UK’s financial sector, while maintaining the remuneration regime’s overall structure and objectives, which are based on internationally agreed FSB principles and standards . The PRA intends to consult on any changes in 2024 H2.

Implementing changes to the Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SM&CR)

In March 2023, the PRA and FCA jointly published DP1/23 – Review of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) , with a particular focus on gathering views about the regime’s effectiveness, scope, and proportionality. HMT in parallel launched a Call for Evidence covering the legislative aspects of the SM&CR. The period for sending responses to the discussion paper ended on 1 June 2023.

The PRA received over 90 responses relevant to its work as a prudential regulator, reflecting the significant level of stakeholder interest in the regime. The PRA, working closely with the FCA and HMT, is considering potential policy options for reform in response to the comments received and intends to consult on proposed changes to the regime in 2024 H1.

Complete the establishment of the Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) Panel

The PRA is continuing to make progress under the new framework provided by FSMA 2023, setting out CBA as an integral part of developing the best possible policy approach, and the results will help shape the PRA’s policymaking. CBAs inform and refine the policy approach to identified issues, helping to design approaches that offer the greatest benefits.

One of the key elements of enhancing the PRA’s scrutiny and accountability mechanisms relates to its approach to CBA and the establishment of a new CBA panel. The role of the CBA Panel is to support increased transparency and scrutiny of the PRA’s policymaking by providing regular, independent input into the PRA’s CBAs relating to PRA rules and the PRA’s statement of policy in relation to CBAs . The Panel will review how the PRA is performing more generally in carrying out its duties with regard to CBA and may provide recommendations to the PRA.

The PRA has completed an open, competitive, and rigorous recruitment process for identifying and appointing a diverse range of expert individuals to constitute the CBA Panel. The PRA will finalise the set-up of the Panel and then start consulting it on the PRA’s statement of policy in relation to CBAs and on the preparation of CBAs. The appointments, including that of the Chair, will be announced in due course.

In 2024, the PRA will consult on its CBA framework, which will set out how the PRA intends to continue to conduct a robust CBA and how it engages with the CBA panel.

PRA Rulebook

The new regulatory framework set out in FSMA 2023 enables the PRA to develop a more coherent and easily accessible Rulebook. The aim is to improve the efficiency and accessibility of the PRA Rulebook by reducing the number of policy document formats currently in use to three: rules, supervisory statements, and statements of policy. In order to achieve this, the PRA’s specialist teams will begin the process of reviewing the EU Guidelines, European Supervisory Authorities (ESA) Q&As, and UK technical standards (UKTS) that are relevant to PRA rules, to determine what should be incorporated into those rules or related supervisory statements and statements of policy. Once the review of these documents is completed, references to the EU Guidelines, ESA Q&As, and UKTSs will be removed.

The PRA is also looking at grouping the elements in the Rulebook to make it easier for users to access relevant information. To support usability and clarity, the PRA will take a consistent approach to the structure of, and language in its policies.

The speed at which the PRA will achieve many of its ambitions for the Rulebook will partly depend on the Government’s approach to the repeal of relevant assimilated law and its replacement in PRA rules and other policy materials. However, the PRA will move ahead with the proposed reforms as quickly as possible to help users more easily navigate the new regulatory landscape.

Banking Data Review

The Banking Data Review BDR, launched in 2023-24, will be delivered as an integral part of the Transforming Data Collection TDC programme. The work will enable the PRA’s banking regulatory data collections to be better aligned with the day-to-day needs of supervisors, ensure the PRA has good-quality data to carry out its new policymaking responsibilities in line with the post-Brexit regulatory framework, and reduce burdens on firms by better integrating and streamlining data collections.

The PRA will consult on the first of three phases of reforms under the BDR in 2024 H2. The consultation will focus on streamlining of the existing regulatory reporting estate, removing reporting templates that may no longer be needed or which contain information that can be gathered at lower cost elsewhere, reviewing collections of counterparty credit information, and incorporating lessons from recent market events.

In parallel, the PRA will continue to work on plans for future phases of reform, focused on credit risk in the second phase, and with all remaining areas covered in a third phase. Engagement with industry participants will be done under the newly appointed TDC Advisory Board, which will be responsible for setting industry working groups on key topics relating to TDC. The TDC’s main industry forum in this area is the Data Standards Committee (DSC), which led the work on the recommendations underpinning the jointly published response by the Bank and the FCA, entitled Transforming data collection – Data Standards Review with recommendations and Bank of England and FCA response . A further working group is the BDR Industry Consultative Forum that is open to all PRA-regulated banks.

Supporting and authorising new market entrants via new ‘mobilisation’ regime

The PRA will continue to support potential market entrants in navigating the authorisation process. This includes providing clear online guidance and industry engagement to build awareness of expectations and seek feedback on firms’ experience of the process. The PRA offers potential applicants the opportunity to meet with staff through a structured pre-application stage, allowing firms to iterate and develop their proposition to support a better-quality application.

The PRA will continue to make use of the mobilisation stage for newly authorised banks, where appropriate, to allow them to operate with restrictions while they complete their set-up before starting to trade fully.

In line with PS2/24 – Review of Solvency II: Adapting to the UK insurance market , the PRA will introduce a new ‘mobilisation’ regime to facilitate entry and expansion for new insurers from 31 December 2024, similar to the mobilisation stage for new banks. Mobilisation will help to facilitate competition, and the international competitiveness and growth of the UK insurance sector, with the aim of benefiting firms who are contemplating applying for authorisation as an insurer in the UK now or in the future.

Newly authorised insurers in mobilisation could be offered the option of using a set period of extra time to build up systems and resources while operating with business restrictions, proportionate regulatory requirements, and lower minimum capital requirements. New insurers could be suitable for mobilisation when they have a shortlist of activities to complete before they can meet full regulatory requirements.

Ease of exit

Improving how firms can leave regulated markets in an orderly way is a vital corollary to greater ease of entry into those markets. It enables a dynamic and competitive market which entrants can join and leave with minimal impact on the wider market and the PRA’s statutory objectives. The PRA has published the first of two planned policy in this topic, (eg, PS5/24 – Solvent exit planning for non-systemic banks and building societies ). A further PS on solvent exit planning for insurers is expected in 2024 H2, following the completion of the market consultation initiated by CP2/24 – Solvent exit planning for insurers . Both of these form part of the PRA’s strategic focus on increasing the ease of exit.

Ring-fencing regime

The Bank and PRA continue to work closely with HMT on implementing the recommendations made in March 2022 by the Independent Review of Ring-fencing and Proprietary Trading , led by Sir Keith Skeoch. On 28 September 2023, both HMT and the PRA published consultations with the aim of giving effect to recommendations of that review.

HMT consulted on removing the blanket restriction which prevents ring-fenced bodies (RFBs) operating in countries outside the EEA. The PRA consulted on introducing a new rule and updating SS8/16 – Ring-fenced bodies (RFBs) , to align with HMT’s proposed legislative changes. These changes aim to implement certain safeguards to ensure that RFBs are not exposed to material risks through the business of their overseas subsidiaries or branches. The PRA will publish its policy and a rule Instrument once the legislative changes are brought into force. Simultaneously, the PRA will update SS8/16 to reflect the changes.

FSMA requires the PRA to conduct a review of its ring-fencing rules and provide a report to HMT every five years. The first such review was completed on 12 December 2023 and the resulting report was laid before Parliament on 25 January 2024 and published on the Bank’s website.

The PRA intends to consult on potential changes to the ring-fencing regime identified by the Rule Review once a fuller exploration of costs and benefits has been undertaken. The Bank and PRA will continue to support HMT with technical advice to enable HMT to finalise its legislative changes, and to consider responses to its Call for Evidence on longer-term reforms.

Effective authorisation processes

The PRA handles over 1,800 regulatory transactions a year, ranging from new firm authorisations to variations of permission for existing firms and cancellations of permission for firms leaving the market. Over the coming year, the PRA will continue to handle these transactions in more streamlined, efficient, transparent, and accessible way while maintaining strong risk controls to ensure the UK’s success as a global financial centre.

In parallel to consulting on reforms to the SM&CR, the PRA will continue to enhance and streamline internal processes on SM&CR applications and other transactions to drive further improvements in operational effectiveness, as measured through the quarterly publication of metrics on timeliness of decisions. This will include close collaboration with the FCA to ensure an efficient and coordinated review of cases, as well as improvements to case handling and recording technology platforms. The PRA will extend existing industry engagement on New Bank Start-ups to also cover new insurers and SM&CR applications in order to promote transparency and spread best practice in support of efficient case handling. In addition, the Wholesale Insurance Accelerated Authorisation Pathway, developed jointly by the PRA and FCA, will continue to provide an accelerated route for the authorisation of a sub-set of London market wholesale applicants.

The PRA’s operation within the Bank plays a critical role in maintaining the stability and integrity of the UK’s financial system. In pursuit of its objectives and work programme, the PRA ensures that its regulatory framework is inclusive, considering the diverse landscape of financial institutions. It aims to create a level playing field, while recognising and planning for the potential impact of the changes in the environment in which we are operating.

In line with its mission, the PRA continually adapts regulations to address emerging risks and opportunities, fostering inclusivity to enhance trust, transparency, and accountability in the financial sector. As a prudential regulator, the PRA maintains and strives for operational efficiency in its regulatory processes, technology, and its workforce. This involves streamlining procedures, driving inclusive recruitment, and leveraging technology to enhance effectiveness – noting that efficient regulation benefits both regulated entities and the broader economy by reducing unnecessary burdens and facilitating smoother interactions between financial institutions and the regulator.

Data and technology

The PRA will continue its programme of work to strengthen and transform its data-related capabilities. The PRA will also continue to play a leading role in international collaboration on the regulatory use of data and technology, liaising closely with other regulators, central banks, academic institutions, and industry. The PRA intends to run a multi-day innovation-focused event for PRA colleagues to support learning and increase awareness about the impact of technological advances and initiatives across the financial sector.

Transforming Data Collection by building on digital regulatory reporting

The PRA will continue to work towards achieving the objectives of the TDC programme for 2026:

• Goal 1: the PRA has the data and tools it needs to rapidly identify and probe emerging issues, risk, and policy questions, including integration into a single customisable supervisory dashboard; and
• Goal 2: the PRA only collects data that it needs from firms, thereby reducing unnecessary burdens on firms.

Regarding Goal 1, the PRA will continue to improve existing and deliver new priority data visualisation and analysis tools to support supervision, covering financial and operational data for PRA-regulated firms. The PRA will also make use of speech-to-text technology to support day-to-day work for staff, and to contribute to the Bank’s wider work on the appropriate use of artificial intelligence to support its objectives, including large third-party language models. This will be underpinned by ongoing support for PRA staff undertaking renewed digital skills training alongside individual and group coaching for some staff cohorts, and planning for those programmes in future years.

Regarding Goal 2, the PRA will continue to work with the FCA and the wider Bank on the TDC programme , which envisions that ‘regulators are able to get the data they need to fulfil their mission at the lowest possible cost to industry’ through improvements to the integration of reporting, reporting instructions, and data standards. Over the coming years, TDC therefore aims to deliver a new target operating model for all of the Bank’s regulatory, statistical, and stress-testing data collections.

Diversity, equity and inclusion at the PRA

The PRA continues to take action to strengthen its culture and working environment. The Bank’s Court review into ethnic diversity and inclusion reported its findings in July 2021. The PRA, alongside the rest of the Bank, is implementing the recommendations of this review and has made considerable progress in terms of embedding inclusive recruitment, investing in talent development, and advancing a psychologically safe culture to promote employees’ ability to voice their opinions via the ‘speak my mind’ initiative. There is also increased accountability for senior leaders to advance a diverse and inclusive Bank.

The PRA recognises the importance of all staff feeling valued and being able to thrive. Key focus areas for 2024/25 include progressing initiatives to improve psychological safety, ethnic and gender representation, and disability disclosure. The PRA continues to benefit from the Bank’s excellent employee networks that cater to diverse groups such as disability, LGBTQ+, social mobility, gender, age, carers, different ethnicities, and many more.

PRA Agenda for Research

The PRA plans to build on its research efforts in 2024/25, including through improving central coordination and capacity-building projects.

Research priorities are captured in the PRA Research agenda 2023+ below (Table 1). The PRA will continue to deliver on those, while making sure that a timely delivery of high-quality research, expertise, and critical evaluation is given to PRC, FPC, and other senior decision-making activities. These deliverables are captured in the research metrics and the PRA Research Annual. The metrics track the quantity, quality, and impact of the PRA’s research, while the PRA Research Annual provides further details on how timely and effective the research advisory (inside and outside the institution) has been. New for this business year is that the PRA will additionally produce impact cases, with the purpose of tracking the lifespan of key research projects and evaluating their total policy/social impact.

To ensure that the organisation has the right capacity and skills, the PRA will initiate new capacity-building projects on models, tools, and data, while reinforcing external collaborations on those. It will also continue efforts to disseminate this work and foster strategic cooperations with research departments at other central banks, regulatory authorities, research institutes, or universities.

Table 1: PRA Research agenda 2023+

Risks to delivery of business plan.

Operating in a complex and fast-moving environment gives rise to risks to the delivery of this business plan. The PRA monitors, manages, actively mitigates (where possible), and reports these risks to the PRC and relevant Bank fora on a regular basis.

Over the course of 2023/24, attrition levels reduced and there was an improvement in recruitment into key roles. Looking ahead to 2024/25, headcount required to deliver this Business Plan is forecast to remain broadly flat.

The PRA will continue to impose discipline on how it deploys its budget to ensure resources are allocated appropriately. The PRA will also need to reprioritise during the year in response to changes in the external environment, as it routinely does. The PRA will continue to focus on managing operational risks and strengthening horizon-scanning capabilities so that it can respond quickly to changes in risk and drive decisions on prioritisation, business planning, and resourcing.

Having access to the right technology and data remains a key area of focus in 2024/25 as part of a multi-year investment across the PRA and the Bank to ensure that the PRA’s technology capabilities support its strategic priorities. This focus will take account of developments in regulatory technology, reduce inefficiencies, and leverage the benefits of being a regulator within the UK’s central bank. There is a risk that the PRA may be unable to deliver its intended technology ambition given the congested change agenda across the Bank. This challenge is being managed through careful prioritisation and scoping of key projects, including delaying some lower-priority activities.

Dependencies

Given the interconnected nature of the global financial system, dependencies on external parties, such as the FCA, HMT, and overseas regulators, could present a risk for the PRA. Policy development, authorisation processes, and supervision activities are contingent on maintaining relationships and co-operation with these parties. The PRA fosters its domestic relationships to ensure effective regulation and supervision across the UK financial sector. The PRA also works closely with international regulators to address cross-border risks for firms operating internationally. The PRA continues to foster these important relationships at all levels of the organisation through several channels, including international committees, supervisory colleges, joint reviews, information-sharing, and joint publications.

PRA Budget 2024/25

The PRA’s provisional budget for 2024/25, which is subject to finalisation of pension costs and year-end adjustments, is estimated at £353.0 million. This is an increase of £34.0 million (11%) on the 2023/24 budget. To reduce the impact to firms in 2024/25, the PRA has taken two measures, as set out in CP4/24 , to limit the increase in fees paid by firms to 7%. This increase follows a 1% reduction to fees in 2023/24 compared with 2022/23.

The PRA is constraining the increase in its own direct costs to 2%, which means a real-terms cut to the budget that will be managed by increasing efficiency in the PRA’s supervisory approach, end-to-end policymaking process, and operations. Alongside this, the PRA needs to fund inflation-driven increases in support services provided to the PRA by the Bank and the PRA’s share of tackling obsolescence in the Bank’s technology estate on which the PRA relies.

Budgeted headcount is forecast to remain broadly flat for 2024/25 ending the year at 1,541 (this compares closely to the actual year-end headcount position for 2023/24 of 1,537). The budgeted headcount reflects the PRA’s need to invest in key areas, including increasing the capacity to approve the efficiency of the IRB model review process, the implementation and supervision of CTPs, investment in the BDR, and implementing lessons learned from the failure of SVB and CS.

Details on how the PRA proposes to fund its budget can be found in CP4/24 – Regulated fees and levies: Rates proposals 2024/25 . It includes proposals for allocating costs of the PRA’s 2024/25 ongoing regulatory activities across PRA fee payers.

Abbreviations

ACS – Annual Cyclical Scenario

AI/ML – Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning

AoC – Analysis of Change

Bank – Bank of England

BCBS – Basel Committee on Banking Supervision

BDR – Banking Data Review

CBA – Cost Benefit Analysis

CEG – Cyber Expert Group

CEO – Chief Executive Officer

CMORG – Cross Market Operational Resilience Group

CP – Consultation Paper

CRR – Capital Requirements Regulation

CTP – Critical Third Party

DEI – Diversity, equity, and inclusion

DP – Discussion paper

DSC – Data Standards Committee

D&I – Diversity and inclusion

EAS – Early Account Scheme

EU – European Union

ESA – European Securities and Markets Authority

ESCG – European Systemic Cyber group

FCA – Financial Conduct Authority

FinTech – Financial Technology

FMI – Financial Market Intermediary

FMIs – Financial Market Infrastructures

FPC – Financial Policy Committee

FRF – Future Regulatory Framework

FSB – Financial Stability Board

FSMA – Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (as amended)

HMT – His Majesty's Treasury

IAIS – International Association of Insurance Supervisors

ICS – Insurance Capital Standard

ILS – insurance-linked securitisations

IRB – internal ratings-based

IRRBB – interest rate risk in the banking book

ISPV – Insurance special purpose vehicle

L-SREPs – Liquidity Supervisory Review and Evaluation Processes

MA – Matching adjustment

MALIR – Matching Adjustment Asset and Liability Information Return

MDA - Maximum distributable amount

MoU – Memorandum of Understanding

MRM – Model Risk Management

NBFI – Non-Bank Financial Institution

PMA – Post Model Adjustment

PRA – Prudential Regulation Authority

PRC – Prudential Regulation Committee

PS – Policy statement

QMC – Quarterly Model Change

RFB – Ring-fenced bodies

RWA – Risk-weighted asset

SCGO – Secondary Competitiveness and Growth Objective

SCO – Secondary Competition Objective

SDDT – Small domestic deposit takers

SMCR – Senior Managers and Certification Regime

SME – Small and medium-sized enterprise

SMF – Senior management function

SS – Supervisory statement

SVB – Silicon Valley Bank

SWES – System-wide exploratory scenario

TDC – Transforming Data Collection

TFSME – Term Funding Scheme with additional incentives for SMEs

TPR – The Pension Regulator

UKTS – UK Technical Standards

Contacting the Bank of England and the PRA

Please send any enquiries related to this publication to [email protected] .

In PS15/23, the PRA set out its rationale to rename Simpler-regime firms to Small Domestic Deposit Takers (SDDTs), and Simpler-regime consolidation entities to SDDT consolidation entities. To avoid confusion, throughout the rest of this document, the PRA will refer to SDDTs, SDDT consolidation entities, the Small Domestic Deposit Takers regime or SDDT regime, and SDDT criteria, rather than Simpler-regime firm, Simpler-regime consolidation entities, simpler regime, and Simpler-regime criteria, even when referring to past consultations.

A CTP is an entity that will be designated by HMT by a regulation made in exercise of the power in section 312L(1) of 2000, as amended by the FSMA 2023.

As at 1 January 2024.

Strictly speaking, DIFs do not accept deposits and are included under the category of deposit-takers for presentational purposes only.

Section 2E of FSMA.

SS11/13 – Internal Ratings Based (IRB) approaches .

As set out in the 2024 priorities letter on UK deposit takers .

SMFs are a type of controlled function carried out by ‘approved persons’, ie individuals who have to be approved. SMFs are the most senior people in a firm with the greatest potential to cause harm or impact upon market integrity.

Managing climate-related financial risk – thematic feedback from the PRA’s review of firms’ SS3/19 plans and clarifications of expectations and Thematic feedback on the PRA’s supervision of climate-related financial risk and the Bank of England’s Climate Biennial Exploratory Scenario exercise .

Thematic feedback from the 2021/2022 round of written auditor reporting and Thematic feedback from the 2022/2023 round of written auditor reporting.

‘Digital money’ refers to claims on deposit-takers or other financial institutions, which exist only in electronic form and whose value is preserved through a combination of strict regulation and issuers’ access to central bank deposits. ‘Digital money-like instruments’ refers to other assets that exist only in electronic form and are used for payments. Some of these are regulated to support a stable value, but their issuers do not have access to central bank deposits and are subject to lighter regulation.

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