In the latest Business Finance Bulletin episode Business Loan Services’ Rob Warlow looks at the new government £100m Housing Growth Partnership scheme launched in conjunction with Lloyds Bank. The scheme is designed to boost house building via improving access to finance.

It’s surprising the number of businesses which are holding large amounts of surplus cash according to a survey by challenger bank Hampshire Trust Bank. Are you one of them and could you be earning a better return?

Rob looks at the announcement from Sage, the accounting software provider, of its tie up with Market Invoice and Funding Circle to provide clients with access to alternative sources of finance.

Staying with alternative funding Rob shares news of crowdfunding platform Funding Empire having new majority shareholders which signals growth for this platform.
And in the Business Finance Tip of The Week Rob looks at market disruptors and crowdfunding.

If you prefer to listen to the podcast version the you can either click below and download and also subscribe via our itunes channel.

In 2014 Business Loan Services’ Rob Warlow chatted with many business experts as part of the weekly Business Finance Bulletin. In this second compilation edition of the Business Finance Bulletin 2014 interviews you will hear from the CEOs of two crowdlending providers, Graeme Marshall of Funding Knight and Parag Patel of Funding Empire, talking about how crowdlending works. Sourcing finance from the crowd exploded in 2014 and it’s fast becoming a recognised alternative to traditional bank funding.

During the past 12 months the Business Loan Services have seen increasing interest from business owners looking to sell equity to raise funds. But what are investors looking for? To answer this question Rob chatted with Alister Betts of Lucid Ventures which specialises in seeking out equity partners.

Late payment is a continual problem for small businesses and Steve White from Thornbury Collections shares three quick tips on what you can do to avoid getting caught in the late payment trap.

And lastly a chat with Kevin Peake from Pension-Led Funding on how you can unlock the value in your pension to fund your growth plans.

In the latest Business Finance Bulletin Rob Warlow reviews findings by the Insolvency trade body R3 on how zombie businesses may be facing challenges ahead as the economy grows.

New lenders keep appear on the finance scene and Rob shares the news of a new commercial lender, Secure Trust Bank, which is providing asset-based financial support to growing SMEs.

Funding Empire is one the growing band of crowdlenders and Rob has a chat with Parag Patel, owner and founder on what Funding Empire can do to help business owners access finance.

A clean credit report is important when raising finance and in this edition Rob looks at a recent survey by Experian, the credit reference agency, which reveals that many business owners have little knowledge about the make-up of a good or bad credit profile.

In the Business Finance Tip of the Week Rob shares a clip from a recent Business Wales ‘Access to Finance Workshop’ in which he talks about the type of proposals banks like to see.

You can also listen to this week’s episode as a podcast by clicking below or downloading it to your phone via Soundcloud so you can listen at your leisure.

Posted on 27.01.2014, by Rob Warlow

In this edition of the Business Finance Bulletin Rob Warlow looks at the low level of awareness among business owners of crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending; how the government has been taken to task for its lack of success in stimulating bank lending; and why you need to keep a close eye on cash during times of growth by balancing the use of cash with different forms of finance.