Last week, UK peer-to-peer lending platform, Orchard Lending Club, officially launched and is now offering investors the opportunity to earn up to 7.08% interest per annum over a five-year period by lending finance to creditworthy professional practices and schools and their clients.
Orchard Lending Club is notably part of an international finance service group that has been lending to the professional service sector for more than 20 years. It will lend investors’ money to professional practices and schools and their clients, such as the following:
- Professional fee funding: Allows lawyers and accountants to offer extended credit to their business customers.
- Premium finance: Enables insurance brokers to offer finance to their clients, to help them spread the cost of their insurance premiums.
- Schools: Allows schools to offer finance to their clients i.e. parents, to help them spread the cost of their children’s school fees.
- Working capital: Allows professional practices and schools the ability to borrow funds directly from Orchard Lending Club.
Investors may choose to receive interest either monthly or on maturity and are required to put in a minimum of £100 and commit to a term of 1,2,3,4 or 5 years. The lending platform stated once investors have lent their money, they can either invest the whole amount over their preferred term or choose to split it into several investments (minimum £10) over different terms. Investments are made on company’s safe and easy-to-follow website, where investors will be able to see a summary of their holdings, make investments and see interest earned.
Bexhill UK Limited, which was founded in 2002 and created to focus on UK insurance premium, and Orchard Funding Limited, established in 2008 for professional fee funding, is the new peer-to-peer lending platform’s sister company. Both companies are reportedly FCA regulated. The founders of Orchard Lending Club notably already run two well-established companies specializing in professional practice and school funding, which will provide support to Orchard Lending Club.
Ravi Takhar, CEO of Orchard Funding plc, added:
“Professional practice and schools financing is a historically safe lending market. In the last 16 years, our group has lent over £600 million to professional practices, schools and their clients and has had zero defaults. We are hoping that this, coupled with the potential returns and ease of access will make this an attractive prospect for investors.”
