Cornwall-based finance firm FOLK2FOLK has surpassed £500m in lending with a record level of £108m lent during 2021 - almost double that of the previous year.
This represents a substantial 80% increase in the total value of completed loans by the regional lender when compared to 2020. As a result of this funding, hundreds of business-owners across regional England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have been enabled to fulfil their business aspirations and contribute to the health and growth of their local and regional economies.
A variety of sectors have benefitted including property development, agricultural diversification, alternative energy, as well as leisure and tourism business owners seeking to capitalise on current and emerging opportunities by investing in their business.
FOLK2FOLK’s largest single loan of 2021 was for £12m, double the size of the company’s largest loan of 2020. The five largest loans were delivered into Devon, Ayrshire in Scotland, Dorset, Kent and East Sussex respectively. As well as regional businesses, retail investors are also beneficiaries of increased lending levels.
Headquartered in Launceston, with offices in Gloucestershire and staff based in other regions, FOLK2FOLK remains one of the few marketplace platforms still open to retail investors.
Investors typically receive 6.5% pa interest which is paid monthly and secured against land/property. Of the £108m invested into loans during 2021, 20% was invested via FOLK2FOLK’s Innovative Finance ISA.
Roy Warren, FOLK2FOLK managing director, said: “An 80% uplift in the total value of completed loans in just one year is significant by anyone’s measure and, coupled with our consistent and growing profitability, signifies a very exciting future for FOLK2FOLK.
“We are proud to have maintained our zero capital losses record through this period of growth and maintained a controlled default rate. However, our grip remains firmly on the tiller with regards to our internal credit processes and portfolio management.
“We are inspired every day by the energy and resilience we see in the business-owners we help. Our mission is, and always has been, to help create and sustain financially successful rural and regional communities.
“We deeply believe that the health of these local economies is essential for the UK’s post-Brexit, post-pandemic recovery and that is why we are unwavering in our determination to channel funding into new and existing businesses in these areas.”
FOLK2FOLK is a national marketplace lending platform focused on helping business-owners across regional Britain access the finance they need to grow, develop, or diversify; while providing fixed-rate, property-backed investments for retail and institutional investors.
FOLK2FOLK was founded in 2013, when the nation was still reeling from the global financial crisis, funding for businesses was drying up and savers were receiving rock-bottom levels of interest.
The idea behind FOLK2FOLK was that by providing a local money exchange, based on the concept of “fair exchange” and secured against land and property, “good folks” could help other “good folks”. Three years later in 2016, FOLK2FOLK became regulated and fully authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
In December 2021 FOLK2FOLK received a £7m investment from the commercial arm of the British Business Bank. The commitment came from British Business Investments (BBI), a wholly-owned commercial subsidiary within the British Business Bank group, the UK Government’s economic development bank.
