Lender breaks own funding record after reaching £200m mark
Ashby-based lender ThinCats dished out a whopping £200 million to mid-sized SMEs across the UK in 2019, the company says.
The total is almost double the firm’s previous record in 2018, and means ThinCats has now lent over £580 million since its inception.
The company recently made headlines when it announced its intention to abandon its P2P platform in favour of an institution-only funding model.
2019 was a particularly eventful year for the firm, with new CEO Amany Attia arriving in October and chief development officer Damon Walford saying goodbye in December.
Attia said: “Despite the political uncertainty, UK businesses continue to invest for the future and we are delighted to have supported mid-sized SMEs with more than £200 million of funding during 2019. This is almost double our previous record of 2018.
“Having reviewed the UK SME lending market, we see a real need for our particular lending model dedicated to the ‘M’s of SMEs. These medium-sized businesses, while often well established, may not be large enough to gain the proper focus and attention from the banks, whilst their needs are too complex for the online only lenders. There is a genuine gap in the £1 million – £15 million space for a lender like ThinCats that understands the needs of these businesses and can offer a bespoke funding service delivered by regionally based origination and credit experts.
“We have a strong pipeline of transactions for the first half of 2020, showing that UK businesses, perhaps, feel a bit more confident given some easing of the political deadlock surrounding Brexit, although the sooner there is greater clarity on the future trading relationship with the EU the better.”
