Assetz Capital sees Scottish surge as local SMEs turn to alternative finance

The alternative finance company, which provides non-bank loans to small and medium sized businesses and property developers across the UK, noted 230 Scottish had enquired about funding since September 2016.

The 230 Scottish SMEs that enquired about funding during this period were asking for an average of just over £1.5 million to facilitate growth.

However, because of Assetz’s strict borrower guidelines and the fact that it takes tangible assets on every loan, only 41 Scottish businesses were accepted and went live on the alternative finance platform during this time period. The average loan size of the accepted businesses was just over £1.1 million.

With dedicated specialists in the green and renewable energy market, during the past three years, Assetz Capital has funded 39 green energy projects, predominantly in the onshore wind turbine energy space. While projects have been located all over the UK, 20 of them have been based in Scotland.

Traditionally funding for wind energy projects has been hard to come by, however P2P finance has opened the door to providing the funds needed to help switch British energy consumption to renewable energy.

As part of its continued investment in Scotland, Assetz Capital will hold a breakfast briefing following the launch of its new Kinross branch at Murrayfield on April 26th at 8.30am.

Founder and CEO Stuart Law and CCO Rob Pailin will be attendance and are encouraging local SMEs to come and gain insight into the Development Finance, Green Energy and Commercial Mortgage sectors in Scotland.

The event will offer a small and medium sized businesses with a series of short talks about Peer-to-Peer funding as well as networking opportunities for new and existing local introducers.

Stuart Law, CEO of Assetz Capital, said: “We’re at a very exciting time in the P2P market at the moment as more and more businesses are recognising the benefits of gaining funding through non-traditional methods. Scotland has been a particularly strong growth market for us - particularly concerning green energy projects, businesses that historically have struggled to gain funds through the traditional banking system. We’ve got twoknowledgeable Regional Relationship Directors operating in Scotland and are encouraging all Scottish businesses to attend our breakfast briefing to come and find out more about what we do and how we might be able to help them with their funding needs.”

Founded in 2013, Assetz Capital is now the fifth largest P2P platform in Europe, and one of the fastest growing in the market. It is one of only two Defaqto “5 Star” rated P2P platforms, with over £235 having flown through the platform in just four years. More than £100m was lent to British SMEs in 2016 and there is a further £500m available and ready to lend through the platform.

More information about the breakfast briefing can be found here.