Don’t look now, but the financial services landscape is changing; lending to umbrella company contractors and small business owners was up in September.
And I don’t mean just a little bit, either. I’m talking shedloads of cash were changing hands in September. £1.25 billion in fact, and that figure was 55 per cent higher than September 2013. It looks like that if this keeps up, maybe all you self-employed folks that have been trying to secure funding for your start-up or just get a contractor mortgage might actually be successful!
Of course, don’t think that banks have decided to be nice to you suddenly. For what it’s worth, High Street lenders have been absolute bastards to self-employed Brits for years and this hasn’t changed all that much. Thankfully other institutions like crowdfunding campaigns and peer-to-peer lending networks have taken up the slack; even some of the new upstart banks nipping at High Street’s heels have been chipping away at market share and jumping in where there’s such a pronounced need.
Figures seem to be increasing slowly but surely, as the new lending is a full quarter of a billion higher than it was just this past May. It’s good because it’s likely to be encouraging Brits interested in beginning their own small businesses to jump in with both feet, especially if they know it won’t be a bloody uphill battle just to get some cash for their start-ups.
For what it’s worth, I’m not surprised in the least that it’s been alternative lenders that have stepped forward to help out freelancers, contractors and other self-employed folks in the UK. I know the Government has been trying everything to get High Street banks to lend to small business owners short of threatening bank executives with bodily harm, but these greedy old geezers have been insistent in their stodginess. I can only hope that the new figures send a strong message to these lazy, cowardly bankers to let go of some of their precious cash; it’s not like there’s going to be a bank run any time soon. This isn’t 2008 – the economy is recovering and these banks are actually standing in the way of that recovery instead of helping! It’s high time they started pulling together before they pull themselves apart, if you ask me.
