Borro lends £50m to SMEs

Over the past year, SMEs and startups have continued to turn to the UK’s leading luxury asset lender in order to access the funds they need. The volume of small businesses that come to Borro has increased by 30 per cent to 70 per cent while the average loan value for this client base has increased by 16 per cent, from £26,000 to £30,000 in the last year. These types of business loans make up half of Borro’s £100 million loan book with total SME lending hitting a milestone of £50 million since launch in 2008 and £20 million, this year alone.

The business is also a key facilitator when it comes to helping start-ups: in the past year nearly one thousand small business owners have used Borro’s service, of which 20 per cent are in the process of setting up a new business. As well as supporting those launching their business, Borro sees SME owners use the service for a variety of reasons, such as paying for new stock, seizing a business opportunity, paying staff wages or paying an unexpected tax bill.

Paul Aitken, CEO and Founder of Borro, commented:

“Today’s figures yet again show that it’s the nation’s smaller enterprises who are suffering, as larger businesses continue to have a wider pool of funds to choose from. Securing finance remains one of the biggest challenges faced by the nation’s small business owners and entrepreneurs, and despite various schemes in place, many are still unable to access finance via traditional means while others simply choose not to. At Borro, 70 per cent of our customer base is small business owners who use their luxury assets to secure finance for a variety of reasons, from facilitating a business transaction, to supporting an irregular income.

"The average loan value to small business owners and the self-employed has risen 16 per cent, from £26,000 to £30,000 in the last year and customers continue to value the efficient service we offer allowing them to facilitate often urgent business transactions within the given timeframe.”