Funding Circle breaks £50m barrier

The business, which celebrated is second birthday recently, has lent more than £12 million since the beginning of August and £5.3 million of this went to small and medium firms countrywide.

The alternative financier has experienced growing support from small businesses keen to access finance at a time when banks are reluctant or unwilling to lend.

Laura McMullen, business development director at Funding Circle, said its significant jump in lending in the past two months demonstrated the importance of alternative funding in providing support to businesses at a time when traditional banking sources seem to be unable to respond positively.

She said: “The primacy of banks as the default funding source for small businesses is waning. We are seeing more professional advisers coming to us as they become aware of new sources of finance that are more responsive to their clients’ needs. It comes as no surprise that Funding Circle’s simple, flexible facility is providing a significant fresh resource for business owners and their advisers.”