Folk2Folk overhauls broker team

Folk2Folk has overhauled its broker team amid increased demand from the origination source.

The peer-to-peer rural business lender has promoted staff internally and expanded its focus from the south west to across England, Scotland and Wales to meet demand from brokers for finance.

The minimum loan size for broker-originated deals has also been increased to £100,000.

The new broker team members are Matt Belding and John Webber, who joined Folk2Folk in 2017 and 2019 respectively, as well as Andy Ruth, who has been with the platform since March 2020.

“The success of our broker channel means a realignment of our internal resource is a natural next step,” Roy Warren (pictured), managing director of Folk2Folk, said.

“By focusing additional resource on to brokers, we are boosting the support we provide, enhancing the level of personal service, as well as speeding up decision making and deal handling.

“Brokers play an increasingly important role in helping British businesses find the right finance for them – whether that’s to grow, diversify or adapt to the new environment – all of which is essential for our country’s post-Brexit success.”

The platform recently surpassed £390m in cumulative lending and in the first 11 months of the year up to November created more than £2.9m in liquidity for its investors.

In October 2020, the lender completed its largest loan of the year at £7.5m and expressed interest in wanting to participate in the successor scheme to the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme.