The Association of Alternative Business Finance (AABF), has encouraged that the Government extends the availability of the new 80% Covid19 Government Guaranteed Loan Fund to all the new lenders. The association says at present the scheme is for high street banks and a relatively small number of lenders already authorised under the existing Enterprise Finance…
A new Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) has been opened to smaller businesses. The scheme can provide facilities of up to £5 million for smaller businesses across the UK who are experiencing lost or deferred revenues, leading to disruptions to their cashflow. Although the Budget announced that an initial £1.2 billion of government-backed lending…
The Bank of England has cut interest rates again in an emergency move as it tries to support the UK economy in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. It is the second cut in interest rates in just over a week, bringing them down to 0.1% from 0.25%. Interest rates are now at the lowest…
Over two-thirds of UK SMEs (69%) have reported significant pressures on their cash levels according to latest insights from business lender MarketFinance. This is in large part down to businesses paying for supplies earlier than anticipated because of coronavirus-related stockpiling and fears of deeper disruptions to transport (road, air and rail) linkages. Additionally, on orders…
The Budget has confirmed plans to grant HMRC ‘preferential status’ in insolvencies from December 2020, says insolvency and restructuring says trade body R3. Business groups, including R3, have described this policy as a threat to business lending and business rescue. From December, debts owed to HMRC by insolvent businesses will be repaid in advance of…
Hundreds of thousands of British SMEs have been turned down for property finance in the past five years, a new study by Together has revealed. Nearly a quarter of small and medium-sized companies said they had struggled to find the funds to move or expand – with inflexible lenders and a shortage of suitable property…
Equiniti Riskfactor and Codat have announced an SME lending partnership The partnership will see Equiniti Riskfactor and Codat allow SME customers to automatically share data with their lender, speeding up decision making. Equiniti Riskfactor will connect with Codat’s single API to digitise data collection for its clients, enabling small businesses to share data automatically, reducing…
Peer to peer lender Assetz Capital has announced that it has surpassed the £1 billion mark for lending to SMEs and housebuilders across the UK since 2013. As part of its business lending, Assetz Capital has been a key supporter of the UK housing market, funding a total of 4,846 new homes since its inception.…
Shire Leasing has completed the first-ever drawdown of Wesleyan Bank’s newly launched block discounting facility offering. The block discounting offering from Wesleyan Bank is a wholesale finance facility that bolsters the funding capabilities of alternative finance companies offering loan agreements to businesses. Shire Leasing and Wesleyan Bank have agreed on a £ 5million facility with…
British Business Bank’s Small Business Finance Markets 2019/20 report has highlighted a significant long-term growth in alternative finance volumes over the last five years, with a 32% increase in asset finance, a 131% increase in equity finance and a 374% increase in marketplace business lending. The British Business Bank was set up in 2014, with objectives…