The UK online alternative finance market volume grew by 35 percent in 2017, to £6.2 billion (from £4.6 billion in 2016), as peer-to-peer business lending became an increasingly important part of overall financing of smaller British businesses, according to the 5th UK Alternative Finance Industry Report by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF)

ZOPA has stood by its decision to tighten its credit policy, claiming its loan performance has remained steady despite default expectations increasing slightly.

Flint Hire and Supply Ltd (Flints),the UK’s number one theatrical chandlers, has secured funding from Independent Growth Finance (IGF) to facilitate a management buy-out (MBO).

Pioneering ethical P2P/crowdfunding platform Abundance equity raise on Seedrs is now fully funded with more than the £1.2m target raised.  It took just 13 days in the end and attracted more than 750 investors, the majority of whom were Abundance’s existing customers, achieving the companies aim to share its success and ownership with its remarkably loyal customer base.

Goji launches a low-cost self-invested personal pension (SIPP), to open up this fast- growing asset class to even more investors. This SIPP allows investors and financial advisers to access the benefits of Direct Lending, such as additional diversification and low volatility returns, through a tax efficient pension wrapper.

Goji are offering the SIPP via a white-label solution from Morgan Lloyd, the established SSAS and SIPP provider. The SIPP will be available via Goji's online platform and advisers will be able to choose to transfer funds from their clients' existing SIPP provider or invest new funds. It will allow advisers to add value to their clients by incorporating risk managed, alternative investment products in a tax efficient SIPP at a low cost.

MEIF Maven Debt Finance, managed by Maven Capital Partners, has provided DTC International Limited, a telecoms lifecycle management company, with £350,000 of debt funding. The funding will enable DTC to develop a state-of-the-art training centre, which will support its ambitious growth strategy, creating 40 new jobs in the South East Midlands.

Independent Growth Finance (IGF), a leading independent asset based lender, has announced 

The British Business Bank, the UK government-owned economic development bank, has announced a second £51m tranche of funding for Henry Howard Finance under the Bank’s ENABLE Funding programme. The transaction is the latest made under the programme, which aims to increase the supply of finance to smaller businesses in the UK looking to acquire business critical assets to boost their growth. 

IW Capital has announced senior loan funding of £1.1 million to assist in the acquisition of Troika Systems Ltd, a global leader and specialist supplier to the printing and packaging industry.

Troika Systems Ltd is a long-established and award-winning UK manufacturer and distributor of 2D and 3D microscope scanning and management systems. Fresh Equity Limited, the Midlands-based SME investor, will be working with the management team to further grow the sector profile of Wiltshire-based Troika and its presence in the global marketplace.

CrowdProperty, the specialist property peer-to-peer lender, has now repaid over £10,000,000 to lenders, continuing its 100% capital and interest payback track record.

Goji, the investment manager and platform focused on Direct Lending, today announced it has reached over £100 million in assets on its platform, aiding Goji's mission to open-up the Direct Lending sector to advice. This milestone coincides with Goji becoming a partner of SimplyBiz, the largest adviser-support network in the UK.

Direct Lending is the world’s fastest-growing asset class, yet little of that is advised – it is mostly institutional money or direct investors using one of the large P2P lending platforms. Advisers have been cautious of the asset class, perceived as relatively new and untested, but in light of recent HMRC figures in September 2018, as well as the growing assets on the Goji platform, the tide appears to be turning.

Capify, an alternative SME finance provider that has helped almost 10,000 UK SMEs to grow and to thrive is eyeing a £125 million+ funding target over the next few years, as it celebrates 10 years in business.

Set up during the height of the credit crunch in 2008, Capify, based in Greater Manchester, has defied the odds to help almost 10,000 SMEs and retailers to raise funding, delivering much needed access to working capital in the form of merchant cash advances and alternative business loans to benefit the UK economy.