Guy Bridge
CEO, Finpoint
A specialist finance platform is supporting small businesses by helping secure finance to help them thrive and survive.
Small and medium sized companies (SMEs) can often find it difficult to acquire the financial support that will see them develop as enterprises.
Reasons such as credit status, lack of forecasts and detailed information on their broader financial position may be barriers to securing financial support to enable them to invest in products, premises or infrastructure or just to provide them with additional working capital.
There are a number of organisations that can help, many created as a result of the Small Businesses and Enterprise Act of 2015 which mandated that finance platforms could provide services for businesses looking for access to credit.
Accessing most suitable finance
Former banker Guy Bridge heads a platform, Finpoint, that endeavours to support SMEs, partnering them with lenders that can offer funding to thrive and survive.
It is a regulated business and with its free platform, embracing technology in a transparent and seamless way gives SMEs as much choice as possible and helps them access finance. If a business has been declined credit by their existing Bank or just needs help finding an alternative source, this is where the platform comes into its own.
The service helps SMEs refinance or raise debt finance – both secured or unsecured – with an array of finance types, including business loans, commercial mortgage or property development finance, asset or invoice finance and revolving credit facilities. It can also assist with an MBO and other more structured funding requirements.
Customers tend to have turnovers under £25 million and can be of any corporate construct from limited companies and sole traders, so anyone can use the service.
Support through the process
With only 5% of SMEs in the UK believed to have a finance specialist within the company, many do not have the expertise to present themselves in the best way to secure finance.
Finpoint helps SMEs present themselves with forecasts and financial information in a virtual data room, with the platform’s technology matching them with appropriate lenders.
“It is all about planning and forecasting and we do a lot to support SMEs in that process,” says Bridge. Companies seeking finance range from engineering and consulting businesses, manufacturers, corner shops and start-ups, but they can help any business.
It is all about planning and forecasting and we do a lot to support SMEs in that process.
Finpoint is effectively a credit marketplace. With no minimum or maximum amount, the service is free to use and is the only finance platform used by the Federation of Small Businesses and their members and Better Business Finance.
Customers access the service either directly through the website or via one of the many partner relationships the company has. The platform has access to over 300 lending products and matches business customers with appropriate lenders.