LONDON, April 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --
Alternative finance holds the key to
funding expansion for many British small businesses, as access to
funds from traditional lenders remains restricted. 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[1] .
To help address this issue, Worldpay has announced a three year
extension of its popular Business Finance scheme, aimed at helping
over 300,000 British small businesses access alternative financing
by enabling access to a "cash advance" based on their future credit
and debit card sales. The scheme, launched in 2015 in partnership
with Liberis, a leading provider of cash advances to small
businesses, has already provided funding in excess of £50 million
to UK SMEs. Under the scheme, funds can be made available to
businesses in as little as 72 hours.
Chris Andrews, proprietor of
Blacks Cheese, is one business owner who has utilised 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 particularly popular with start-ups.
Worldpay's research 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 & refurbishment
funds and equipment purchases drove 87 per cent 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 percent 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 percent stating its emergence will make
things easier. With the extension of the Business Finance scheme,
Worldpay and Liberis will work 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 £40million - 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."
ABOUT WORLDPAY, INC.
Worldpay, Inc. (NYSE: WP; LSE: WPY) is a leading payments
provider with unique capability to power global integrated
omni-commerce, any payment, anywhere. With industry-leading scale
and an unmatched integrated technology platform, Worldpay offers
clients a comprehensive suite of products and services globally,
delivered through a single provider.
Annually, Worldpay processes over 40 billion transactions
through more than 300 payment types across 146 countries and 126
currencies. The company's growth strategy includes expanding into
high-growth markets, verticals and customer segments, including
global eCommerce, Integrated Payments and B2B.
Worldpay, Inc. was formed in 2018 through the combination of the
No. 1 merchant acquirers in the U.S. and the U.K., Vantiv, Inc. and
Worldpay Group plc. Worldpay, Inc. trades on the NYSE as "WP" and
the London Stock Exchange as "WPY."
Visit us at http://www.worldpay.com.
About Liberis:
Liberis is a leading alternative finance provider, offering
simple, flexible and transparent funding to help UK SMEs achieve
their ambitions.
Through its Business Cash Advance, an innovative form of
funding, Liberis links repayments directly to cash flow so
businesses only repay when their customers pay them.
Liberis is backed by the UK Government owned British Business
Bank and is part of Blenheim Chalcot, the UK's leading venture
builder.
To date Liberis has helped over 6,000 SMEs, advanced £210m in
funding through Business Cash Advance[2] and supported
over 35,000 jobs in the UK.[3]
For more information, please visit http://www.liberis.co.uk
Social media channels:
Facebook: @LiberisUK
Twitter: @LiberisUK
1. Research conducted by YouGov of 1,095 senior decision makers
across UK small businesses on behalf of Worldpay, October 2017
2. Between 2007-2018
3. Since 2007