Growth Street hits record £80m lending record despite Brexit concerns

The lending platform said Britain’s small firms continue to look for opportunities after the UK leaves the European Union.

Business lending platform Growth Street said its loans-under-management have hit £30m, taking its all-time lending to more than £80m, despite Brexit uncertainty.

The London-based start up was founded by chief executive Greg Carter (pictured) and serial investor Thomas Hoegh in 2014, and provides bank overdrafts to firms of up to £2m.

The platform was launched in the aftermath of the financial crisis, as small firms looked for new forms of credit following the financial crisis after high-street banks cracked down on lending fearing defaults.

The firm’s flagship product is GrowthLine, which works much like an overdraft, with businesses given a limit, they can draw down on and make repayments as often as they like, within agreed limits.

The London-based start up said it aims “to offer funding to small and medium sized enterprises [SMEs] severely constrained by the lack of bank finance, while providing investors with attractive potential returns”.

Carter said: “We are determined to plug the funding gap left by high-street banks who are unwilling to fund the UK’s growing SME population, and today’s announcement shows we are making real strides towards that goal.”

He added: “It’s great to see that UK SMEs are looking ahead of Brexit and seeing the opportunities available to them.”

In February, the Bank of England slashed its 2019 economic growth forecast to 1.2 per cent from 1.7 percent in November, adding that Britain faces its weakest economic growth in a decade this year as worries over the date that the UK will leave the European Union mounts and the global economy slows.