What the changing times mean for SMEs, and how we can support your clients through it

With energy costs soon to be capped, it’s safe to say the economy is facing an uncertain future – and it’s likely that small businesses will need support to tackle these new challenges. Here, we outline why we’re well-equipped to help your clients through this phase, and how we can offer the fast, affordable finance they need. 

Despite the economic climate, we’re still lending millions 

We were founded in the aftermath of the 2008 recession to give SMEs better access to finance, so we’re well equipped to help businesses through this phase too. Whether your client is looking to cover any increased costs, bulk buy stock and negotiate with suppliers or simply kick off a new or delayed project, we want to help fund their next step.

To better serve their needs, we’ve recently extended our term loan offering, and we now provide loans of £10,000-£500,000, as well as our new short-term loans which you can read about below. 

With rising interest rates affecting many businesses right now, locking in a finance rate could help them get ahead of any further increases. All of our loan options are fixed-rate, giving your clients the opportunity to plan for the future with confidence, despite the economic environment we’re in. 

We’ve also just launched FlexiPay, our new interest-free line of credit, which we’re looking to make available to Introducers in the near future. If you’d like to know more about this product, please reach out to your BDM. 

Greater support for our Introducers 

To empower our Introducers even further and provide them with a more tailored service, we’ve updated the way our team operates. Each of our Introducers will now get their own Business Development Executive (BDE), who will be their single point of contact for any applications submitted to us, as well as an assigned Business Development Manager (BDM).

We hope that, by implementing these changes, we’ll be able to strengthen the relationships we have with our Introducers, and speed up response times through the funnel. This more streamlined approach should enable us to say yes to even more businesses moving forward — and to remain a crucial lending partner for our ever-growing community.

Saying yes to more businesses with new finance solutions 

We’re now able to lend to businesses we may not have been able to help previously, which we hope will be helpful during this uncertain economic phase. 

Our new short-term loans are designed to support younger businesses who’ve been trading for 1 to 2 years, as well as businesses who aren’t eligible for a standard Funding Circle loan. These loans are offered with fixed rates, just like our longer term loans are, so SMEs know exactly what they’re paying each month – and have the stability to plan with confidence. 

Alongside our great technology, we’ve also continued to support our in-house support teams, so they can always be on hand to help customers with any questions or concerns. This human touch helps us to provide a more personalised experience for customers, resulting in a really strong customer service. 

These teams remain focused on helping businesses get the support they need. They continue to assess businesses on their merits, and base any offer around what businesses can afford now, so they aren’t tied to future growth to meet repayments.