Ablrate not interested in recovery loan scheme because of busy pipeline
Ablrate chief David Bradley-Ward has said that he is not interested in taking part in the government’s new recovery loan scheme because the peer-to-peer lending platform is too busy with a full pipeline.
He said that he had been interested in taking part in the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS) but failed to get accredited for it.
Bradley-Ward (pictured) had also previously expressed interest in wanting to participate in the successor scheme to CBILS, which Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled in his 2021 Budget as the recovery loan scheme.
However, but has now said that Ablrate does not want to take part as it is too busy with its current pipeline.
The recovery loan scheme will run from 6 April until the end of the year, subject to a review, replacing CBILS, the coronavirus large business interruption loan scheme and bounce back loan scheme, which all end on 31 March.
The new scheme, which has a maximum facility of £10m, will provide loans from £1,000 for asset and invoice finance and from £25,001 for term loans and overdrafts.
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“We would have taken part in CBILS if given the opportunity because at the time that would’ve been great, but our pipeline is as full as can be, so we don’t want to take part in the new scheme,” said Bradley-Ward.
“It would almost be a distraction for us to offer the recovery loan scheme because we have so much business in our existing book. We have a pipeline of probably £10m to £15m.
“We’ve always been centred on profitability and trying to make money. Unless you’re doing lots of volumes in the recovery loan scheme, the margins will perhaps not be as great as you’d hope. As much as it’d be a great scheme to take part in, we’re doing okay so we’ll keep providing our lenders with good quality loans.
“We have a good client base that like our loans and we have plenty of good business to do. We don’t necessarily need the recovery loan scheme, I’m sure there are plenty of other platforms capable of delivering these things.”
Bradley-Ward said that he believes that platforms that did not offer CBILS will probably not take part in the recovery loan scheme.
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“I think the British Business Bank would have figured out how much they can get out the door and who’s best to deploy that money,” he said.
“If you’re geared up for it already, it makes sense to keep doing it. As much as we would’ve liked to take part in CBILS we didn’t need it and our lenders wouldn’t have been able to participate in it.”
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