The British Business Bank has announced an increase to business lender Simply’s ENABLE Funding facility.
In total, the facility will reportedly offer £300 million of funding to SMEs across the United Kingdom. This is notably the largest facility under the British Business Bank’s ENABLE Funding program, which is focused on enhancing the supply of asset finance to the UK SMB community.
Simply, an independent lender and equipment finance firm, was established back in April 2017 in response to the requirement for innovation and key changes in the asset finance industry. It currently has more than 110 professionals on its payroll and has offered £650 million of support to over 4,200 clients since its inception.
Established in 2014, the ENABLE Funding program supports the British Business Bank’s goal to further diversify finance markets for smaller UK firms.
Providers of finance to SMEs tend to lack the scale needed to efficiently access capital markets – a vital source of funding for lending service providers – in a cost-efficient manner. As noted in the announcement, the ENABLE Funding program warehouses newly-originated finance receivables from various originators, bringing them together into a new type of structure.
After the structure achieves adequate scale, it will refinance a certain portion of its funding on the capital markets, helping small finance providers to take advantage of institutional investors’ funds.
Mike Randall, CEO at Simply, stated:
“We are proud to work with the British Business Bank and are committed to encouraging a positive change to the market and our customers. Our recently launched digital brand, Simply Connect, enables faster decisions through automated processes and is bringing the next generation of asset finance into the sector. This complements our personalized customer service. We look forward to serving as many SMEs as possible in these unprecedented times. We aim to help them grow and prosper, come rain or shine.”
Reinald de Monchy, MD, Guarantee and Wholesale of the British Business Bank, added:
“By partnering with alternative and non-bank lenders like Simply to help close the funding gap, we are enabling smaller businesses across the UK to gain access to finance through a wider offer of funding options. Tackling the problem of diversity of financial provision for small businesses is central to the ENABLE Funding programme, which was developed by the British Business Bank specifically to address this critical issue.”
Richard McDougall, Partner at Cabot Square Capital, remarked:
“We have worked with Simply since the very beginning and have witnessed their rapid growth in the past four years. They have a clear vision to enable SMEs across the country to grow and prosper. Simply believe in the potential of their customers and are there for them through good and bad times. The fifth round of British Business Bank funding will help support smaller businesses, entrepreneurs and family businesses to do just that.”