We believe that alternative finance holds the key to funding expansion for many British small businesses, as access to funds from traditional lenders remains restricted – and according to a recent survey of 1,000 small business owners, almost one in three reported difficulties in securing business loans from banks, potentially halting their expansion plans.

To help address this issue, we are delighted to announce that we will be extending our partnership with Worldpay and the development of the Worldpay Business Finance scheme. Since the initial launch in 2015, the scheme has already provided funding in excess of £50million to small UK businesses.

Chris Andrews, proprietor of Blacks Cheese, is just one business owner who has used Worldpay Business Finance to help address stock purchasing needs:

“Worldpay Business Finance became apparent as an alternative method of funding the business, at a time when we needed it instantly and it was delivered within a matter of hours. Worldpay is now part of our financial reckoning, and it’ll be one of our tools that we’ll always use and it’s not going to be something that we need to consider. We know how it works, we know how it funds us – it’s paid off for us.”

Alternative finance, while available to all types of small business, is proving increasingly popular with start-ups. Research by Worldpay has revealed that businesses under five years old are as likely to select alternative finance methods to secure capital as approaching banks. Analysis by Worldpay of how these funds are used reveals that in 2017, direct investment in businesses, including stock purchase, expansion and refurbishment funds and equipment purchases drove 87% of the cash advances.

Despite its growing popularity, the research also revealed that business cash advances are among the least known forms of funding, with only 2% of businesses indicating an intention to use this form of finance in 2018. At the same time, business owners aged under 35 indicated they are more likely to place their confidence in alternative financing as a way to reduce their reliance on banks, with 40% stating its emergence will make things easier. With the extension of the Worldpay Business Finance scheme, we will be working collaboratively to address this lack of awareness.

Steve Newton, Executive Vice President, UK and Europe Worldpay said: “Worldpay Business Finance has proven extremely popular with small businesses looking for alternative methods of finance. Worldpay Business Finance was created specifically with the unique needs and structure of small businesses in mind – it’s flexible and it’s fast.

“In 2017, we tripled funding for growth to UK SME businesses and have now advanced over £50million – but we know that this form of funding has the potential to help thousands more. So over the next year, we’ll make it easier to access the scheme by increasing call centre and online support to enable Britain’s small businesses to thrive.”

Rob Straathof, CEO at Liberis said: “SMEs contribute more than £200bn a year to the UK economy; and as this is only set to increase, access to funding is certain to remain integral to their growth. As such, we’re delighted to be continuing our partnership with Worldpay, as Worldpay Business Finance, enabling us to help even more small businesses in the future. Enhancing this opportunity, we will be prioritising education and collaboration to successfully secure the livelihoods of small UK businesses.”