Only a third of Britain’s small businesses have turned to their banks for financing in the past quarter, the lowest level on record, according to data published in The Telegraph. Despite the Government’s repeated efforts to boost bank lending for firms, the latest SME Finance Monitor found that 33 per cent of small firms reported […]
Financial publisher MoneyWeek has just published its research into crowdfunding. Its report is unremittingly positive. This echoes our view that crowdfunding is the way forward for both lender and borrower. But readers are reminded that, exciting as P2B investment is, there are always risks for lenders – even after our rigorous credit analysis. MoneyWeek editorial […]
Businesswoman Samantha Acton, proprietor of the Southbourne-based Domestic Angels network, has certainly got the alternative-finance message. Ms Acton, speaking to the award-winning local newspaper, The Daily Echo, criticises what she styles “the obsession” with getting banks to lend to small businesses again. “A good entrepreneur will seek and secure investment from alternative sources as the […]
New figures from the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts (NESTA), a charitable body, reveal that the number of crowdfunding platforms operating in the UK rose by over 50% in 2013. NESTA’s online commentary service, The Economic Voice reports that the number of crowdfunding platforms operating in the UK, across every type from reward-based crowdfunding […]
Research carried out by AXA Business Insurance confirms our own recently published research that small businesses’ credit needs are not being met by conventional financing sources, and that growth is being hampered as a result. The Yorkshire Post reports that AXA’s research into five million businesses nationwide reveals “a worrying picture of firms not being […]
The UK has “by far the fastest rate of growth” in world crowdfunding, according to a report in the Independent. “More than $133m was raised from crowdfunding – rewards and equity – in the first quarter of the year and 500 new projects are being launched daily on crowdfunding platforms around the world,” says the […]
The hedge fund industry is coming to the world of crowdfunding. As we noted earlier, Marshall Wace, which reportedly has more than $15 billion under its control, is targeting institutions with a £200 million investment fund. A recent report by Reuters indicates that the hedge fund manager’s plans would “bring peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, hitherto at the fringes of […]
A funding gap of £4.3 billion is holding back small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and preventing economic growth, according to new research released today by Money&Co., the cutting edge person-to-business (P2B) crowdfunding business. The findings show the severe challenges SMEs face when trying to access finance. The study, conducted by research agency Populus on behalf […]
Britain is set to overtake the United States as the world leader in crowdfunding, according to Money&Co. CEO, Nicola Horlick. Speaking at a crowdfunding event organised by the NESTA charity (National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts), the Money&Co. chief executive said: “I think we will become a world leader, partly because we are […]