Figures released by the Peer to Peer Finance Association reveal that lending via the peer-to-peer and crowdlending sector has soared in the first six months of this year. During this period the amount lent has doubled with platforms having lent out over £500m in the six months putting it on track to break the £1bn barrier for 2014.
The figure lent comprises of funds advanced to both consumers and businesses but it was growth in money lent to businesses that has led the way.
In the first quarter of 2014 £132m of new money was lent to business and this increased to £146m in the second quarter. The number of businesses borrowing via P2P has also increased from 5,169 in the first quarter to 5,919 as at the end of June.
There has also been an increase in the number of lenders supporting businesses with a movement from 31,616 to 35,477.
The growth demonstrates how businesses are quickly embracing this innovative way of raising finance.
The growth in crowdfunding comes on the back of clear signs that businesses are looking to expand and hence on the hunt for finance. A recent survey from Albion Ventures showed that a third of businesses plan to raise finance in the next 12 months. Of these 27% are targeting capital for business development and 23% looking to expand their premises. With crowdfunding sites such as Funding Circle already entering the commercial mortgage market the peer-to-peer market is well placed to satisfy demand from businesses.
If you want to know how you can use crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending to support your growth plans read more here or simply complete the contact box at the foot of this page.
Hi Rob, it was so interesting and entertaining listening to you at the Kevin Green Wealth Coach Workshop in Reading this weekend! I didnt realise you can find Finance proposals such fun!. Brilliant tips! Thanks.
Rob delivered a series of 3 workshops aimed at understanding how finance houses look at finance propositions with the aim for us as a team to deliver more of a bespoke offering to our customer base. The training was delivered to a mixture of staff who work with new businesses start-ups and existing established businesses across Mid & South West Wales. Rob delivered the training with an abundance of passion and has really helped my team look at financial propositions in a different light, many thanks again Rob and I look forward to work with you in the near future.
I wanted to thank you for such an insightful, energetic, and entertaining talk at the Kevin Green Wealth event on securing funding and creating a successful plan. It was brilliantly executed and a pleasure to listen to and the ideas I’ve learned are definitely going to help me in going forward.
Rob kindly agreed to attend the recent Pontypridd RFC sponsors networking evening and delivered what can only be described as an excellent talk on 5 Tactics to Boost Your Business and Your Profits. He kept the audience engaged throughout and the feedback from everyone was excellent. Rob is very knowledgeable on business and finance and on top of that is a genuine nice guy. We hope to have him back at a future event and I have no hesitation in recommending Rob’s services.
Further to your recent presentation at LEAD Wales just wanted to say it was very refreshing to see somebody talk passionately and positively about finance, very insightful!