ThinCats shrugs off inflation pressures with record £191m lending

SME lender ThinCats originated a record £191m of loans to UK  SMEs in the first half of 2023.

The figure is 45 per cent higher than the £132m of loans over the same period last year, and suggests ThinCats’s £318m annual record set in 2021 could be surpassed. Last year it provided £302m of funding to businesses.

In total since its formation in 2011 as one of the first peer-to-peer lenders, ThinCats has lent more than £1.4bn and its assets under management stand at record levels of more than £750m.  

ThinCats CEO Amany Attia (pictured) says its borrowers are relatively “insulated from the squeeze on consumer spending” seen in the wider economy and have also been less impacted by higher energy and food prices.

“Despite the economic backdrop of lingering high inflation and rising interest rates, we are seeing healthy demand for funding from mid-sized businesses to support organic growth and via acquisitions alongside a slowdown from mainstream bank lending,” said Amany Attia, CEO, ThinCats. 

“Sectors showing particularly strong growth are Professional services and IT services which are benefitting as businesses continue to invest in changes to their strategic and operational activities following the pandemic and subsequent macro-economic challenges,” she added.