ThinCats lent record £112m in 2018
THINCATS has revealed that it had a record-breaking year in 2018, lending more than £112m to small- and medium-sized businesses.
This is more than double the amount which was lent in 2017, and boosts the peer-to-peer lender’s total loan value since inception to £350m.
“2018 has been a fantastic year for ThinCats,” said John Mould, chief executive officer at ThinCats. “Our strong regional and bespoke approach to lending continues to gain support from mid-sized SMEs and the professional business finance community.
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“The message is beginning to get through that the banks can’t match the flexibility or long-term investment outlook offered by institutional and retail funders. I expect this trend to continue and I would encourage more businesses to look at alternatives to the banks.”
In December 2018, ThinCats announced that it had signed a £200m funding agreement with BAE Systems Pensions following a £300m funding with global asset manager Insight Investment. As a result, the platform now has more than £800m available for new SME loans in 2019 and beyond.
“2018 saw our previous investments in people, data and technology really start to deliver,” said Damon Walford, ThinCats’ chief development officer.
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“With almost £1bn of loan capital to deploy we are well placed to help UK SMEs turn their growth ambitions into reality. In 2019, we want to carry on where we left off in 2018. The fact that 50 per cent of businesses declined for funding by their bank don’t go on to look for alternatives, shows there is still a huge amount of education needed.
“We aim to be at the front of this in our drive to help UK SMEs secure the funding solutions they deserve.”
ThinCats offers loans of up to £10m to UK companies with asset backing or reliable cashflows for working capital, acquisition, refinance or growth.
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