In 1997 Benross’s CEO Jon Everitt set out with a singular vision: to launch a sports brand that would produce top quality golfing equipment, without the prohibitive price tag. Twenty-one years later, the golf brand has grown to become the largest golfing manufacturer in the UK. It remains privately owned and has become synonymous with quality and appeal. Now it is poised for European growth with a £2M boost to working capital funds from Independent Growth Finance, IGF.

PEER-TO-PEER development loans platform Blend Network has secured £10m of funding from private investors.  The late-seed round of financing was backed by investors including Cyrus Ardalan, former vice chair of Barclays and current chair of OakNorth Bank and Citigroup Global Markets, the family office of Publicis Group chairman Maurice Levy and Jean-Phillipe Blochet, co-founder of hedge fund Brevan Howard.  The London-based firm said on Monday that the oversubscribed funding round comprises a combination of equity, to scale up the business, and commitments to lend via the platform.

Giles Andrews OBE, co-founder of Zopa, the world’s first marketplace lender, will join Dynamic Credit as Chairman of their Supervisory Board, subject to regulatory approval. The Board will have three members and serves to strengthen the corporate governance of Dynamic Credit Group (DCG), which comprises of the asset manager and direct lender Dynamic Credit and the investor servicing platform LoanClear.

Total lending facilitated by P2PFA platforms passed £10 billion during the third quarter of 2018 with the sector’s contribution to the UK economy approaching nearly £11 billion by the end of September – with the most pronounced growth continuing to be found in lending to small businesses.

The quarterly data – which for the first time includes statistics from CrowdProperty which joined the P2PFA in July – reveal that during 2018, platforms have lent more than £900 million each quarter, with the net lending flow of capital increasing between the second and third quarters of the year.

David Absolon, Investment Director at Heartwood Investment Management, looks ahead and assesses the market for credit investors.

CrowdProperty has become the latest peer-to-peer loan originator to disclose their lending performance using Brismo’s methodology. In doing so they have become the first real estate development lender to adhere to an independent performance standard.

MEIF Maven Debt Finance has provided Automotive MacIiver Limited, the designer of the only multiple car seats for children with a £150,000 debt funding package. The funding will enable the business to invest in its product range, improving efficiencies in its batch manufacturing process, increase stock to meet growing sales and support the appointment of two new business development roles in the Birmingham area.

Multimac, invented by Automotive Macliver, is a unique, multi-child car seat which delivers a completely new concept in child car seat safety. By allowing three to four children to be seated in a row, Multimac removes the dangers associated with a seven-seater vehicle, which places children in the boot space of the car, commonly known as the ‘crumple zone’. The Multimac enables up to four children from 0-12 years to be seated in a row of even the smallest cars and is approved for adult use. 

Capital Step has successfully funded the management buy-out of Brightwater, a leading independent recruitment consultancy with offices in Dublin, Cork and Belfast. The Company provides permanent, contract and executive search and selection services, with a focus on professional services. 

With Private Debt becoming one of the cutting edge markets in the broader asset markets, The timely introduction of the DLX Direct Lending Index will give asset managers and analysts the information they need to secure more effective decisions.

The British Business Bank has announced a commitment of up to £150m for lending to UK small businesses through Funding Circle, a global small business loans platform. The new facility will provide senior financing to a transaction with the Funding Circle SME Income Fund Limited (FCIF), a publicly traded fund that lends exclusively through Funding Circle. This new commitment extends the existing partnership between Funding Circle and the UK Government.

The British Business Banks’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) programme has now supported smaller businesses with 30,097 facilities totalling more than £3.2 billion.

Maven Capital Partners has provided Mansfield-based Proskins Limited, a manufacturer of sports and fitness apparel, with a £250,000 funding package from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), supported by the European Regional Development Fund.

The investment will be used to implement an ambitious marketing strategy to capitalise on the growing demand for its products globally and help build the firm’s presence in Germany and the US, whilst creating 10 new jobs in North Nottinghamshire.

Proskins designs and manufactures high performance leisurewear, including a wide range of men’s and women’s clothing which uses ‘compression technology’ to address poor blood-flow and fluid retention. The company has also developed a range of cosmetic products aimed at the beauty market.