To open the latest Business Finance Bulletin, we review the recently released Small Business Finance Markets report. Issued annually by the British Business Bank the report shares the bank’s findings on small business owner’s attitudes and experiences when it comes to raising finance. The statistics reveal one startling fact about how businesses view the act of borrowing money for growth.

2018 is the year when Open Banking kicked off. Still in its infancy, the majority of people are unaware what it is and how it will dramatically affect the way we interact with banks. Two early adopters have announced a partnership to streamline personal borrowing applications.

To close the Bulletin, we look at the negative impact late filing of Annual Accounts can have on a Company’s credit rating and your ability to raise finance.

If you would prefer to listen to the podcast version you can click below or download to listen to later via our Soundcloud, Stitcher or itunes channel.

Posted on 18.01.2014, by Rob Warlow

This week, in our latest Business Finance Bulletin, a look at a problem which can lead to poor cashflow; a quick review of a new peer-to-peer lender, Lending Works which launched this week; and the Tip of the Week follows a Twitter exchange we had last week on proactively using regular financial information.

Posted on 14.01.2014, by Rob Warlow

The number of new peer-to-peer lending sites continues to increase with the recent launch of Lending Works.

Lending Works, which focuses on the personal loan market, is headed by a team from the banking, accountancy and finance industries, and it aims to provide a simple, flexible and transparent way for users to lend and borrow money.

In line with the traditional P2P model Lending Works’ online platform allows people to lend their savings for a competitive return to creditworthy people requiring finance. Personal loan borrowers are prudently selected by the company’s team of highly experienced underwriters using advanced underwriting techniques and electronic credit scoring. Loan terms and lending periods are both one to five years.

To kick start the business Lending Works completed a successful pre-launch fundraising round raising £3.5 million from venture capital and angel investors.

Rates are promised to be highly competitive for both lenders and borrowers and the company is targeting a net return to lenders of approximately 5.1% AER when their money is lent for five years.

Whilst the platform is there to fund personal financial needs research shows that many business owners do resort to using personal funds as a source of business capital.

You can find out more about Lending Works here.