Author Archives: Martin Baker

Of Sharing, Lending And Alternative Funding

“The sharing economy in the UK is surging, attracting investment and providing budding entrepreneurs with a platform to take great ideas out to the population.,” says The Director magazine. Well, we have to say that here at Money&Co., we (ahem) share that sentiment. The “sharing economy” includes financial crowdfunding (equity and loan financing – such […]

Exchanging The Norm – Alternative Finance Forges Ahead

CityA.M..’s Harriet Green, a leading journalist in crowdfunding and a moderator at next Monday’s Money&Co. co-sponsored conference, reports on a very welcome move – one that moves our “alternative” sector yet further into the mainstream. “City investors are getting an exchange to trade crowdfunded investments, as the UK’s first crowdfunding marketplace launches today. “Crowdfunding platform Crowd2Fund […]

CityAM’s Good Debt Guide – Conference Latest

Harriet Green of CityA.M. offers a consumer guide choosing a good crowdfunded loan. The article features some trenchant and very sensible commentary from independent alternative finance analyst, AllStreet. “First and foremost, take a serious look at how a platform handles a loan, says Emanuela Vartolomei, founder and chief executive of All Street, the independent alternative […]

Media Moves To Make Alt Fi And Crowdfunding Mainstream

We’re delighted to report that mainstream media appear to be waking up to the increasing importance of alternative finance, with crowdfunding at its heart. Rebecca Burn-Callander writes in The Telegraph: “Keith Morgan, chief executive of the government-owned and run British Business Bank, makes the bold statement that his organisation is behind the rise of one […]

Funding For Start-Ups Has “Changed Irrevocably” – Conference Latest

Today we offer an excerpt from a report on how the funding situation for British start-ups “has changed irrevocably since the global financial crisis”. CityA.M. carries research from Dr Suzanne Mawson and Dr Ross Brown, which purportedly demonstrates that “equity crowdfunding has quickly become an important funding mechanism for many small businesses and is now […]

FinTech And Alternative Finance ‘A Threat To Banks’

Consulting firm McKinsey has warned banks that FinTech start-ups are a threat to traditional banking’s profits, giving them a choice: fight them or join them, according to a recent report from CityA.M. “London’s fintech hubs are booming, with over 12,000 start-ups disrupting financial services with products that are often cheaper for customers. This poses a […]

Survey Predicts £12 Billion UK Alternative Finance Boom

Businesswire reports a survey that reveals some startling findings. “FiServ, a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, announced today that U.K. small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are likely to benefit from the substantial projected growth of alternate sources of funding such as peer-to-business (P2B) lending and crowd-funding over the next five years. This […]

Ready, Set… Start-up! P2P A Key To SME Success

Start-up businesses are, according to our friends at startups.co.uk, “often frustrated at the overly cautious, risk averse attitude from many mainstream business finance sources.” The site has just published a piece in which it lists “five reasons why P2P lending is the fastest-growing branch of the alternative finance sector. We offer a lightly edited excerpt […]

British Influence Takes Alternative Funding Out To Lunch

We’re delighted to welcome British Influence (BI) to the conference on alternative solutions to small business funding and investing. Sponsored by leading law firm, Cubism Law, and co-sponsored by Money&Co., equity platform VentureFounders, P2P lenders Archover, data company Crowdnetic, and campaign group British Influence. The day-long conference will focus on how small and medium-sized companies […]

P2P: Of Borrowers, Barbers And Beer – Plus Conference Latest

Today, as promised, we run the second part of accountant Mandy Mitten’s appraisal of the state of the peer-to-peer crowdfunding loan market, as published in Bytestart. “Since 2014, the industry has seen regulation by the FCA. Lending companies must adhere to Principles for Business, preparations must be in place in case any platform should go […]