Growth Street to expand data tools to attract SMEs
GROWTH Street is planning to roll out a wider range of data tools for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and a new broker proposition to boost its borrower base.
The alternative business lender, which started accepting retail money last December, currently offers its borrowers a free cash flow forecasting tool and other analysis products to help them manage their finances better.
Founder Greg Carter, who resumed the chief executive role last month, told Peer2Peer Finance News that he sees Growth Street’s ongoing relationship with its SME clients – aided by the data tools – as part of its “secret sauce” to attract borrowers.
“We’re on a mission to give small businesses tools to grow,” he said.
“We’re looking to build a wider range of information tools that can be shared with business owners.”
The new insight tools are currently in a private beta testing phase and will be rolled out in stages during the year, he added.
Growth Street currently attracts most of its borrowers from referrals or targeted outbound marketing using a range of publicly available data.
It is also planning to announce a new broker proposition in the next month or two, although Carter declined to give specific details of the new offering.
“We’re working closely with introducers and participating in the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers Expo in June,” said Carter.
“The announcement will probably coincide with the event.”
Last month, Growth Street announced that it had attracted 600 investors in the five months since it started accepting retail money. The company is looking to build on its recent growth and scale up the business on both the borrower and the investor side, Carter said.
Read more: Growth Street’s interest rates drop
The firm, which is currently based near Old Street and comprises a 36-strong team, is moving to a larger office in Aldgate in June and plans to expand its workforce to more than 50 people by the end of the year.
It will be hiring across the business in sectors such as sales, marketing and technology.
Read more: Growth Street announces two senior hires
Carter shrugged off Brexit-linked uncertainty and said he was confident about the outlook for SMEs.
“Since the referendum vote last June we have seen fantastic growth and that hasn’t changed; we’re not worried about a slowdown in the economy,” he said.
“SMEs perform very robustly in financial crises. They’re small enough and nimble enough to respond to challenges. Growth Street can give them access to capital and advice in those times.”
