Stages of tax grief: Is it time for bankers to bargain? Banking Banks are in the firing line at the Budget and in a meeting with bosses on Tuesday chancellor John Healey played coy on any increased rates. In this week’s column Samuel Norman looks at what trade-off could be made. Also on the cards, fresh data shows fintechs are lurching ahead of the incumbents on customer [...]
Iwoca closes bumper debt facility as sale speculation mounts Fintech Small business lender Iwoca has inked a new £250m debt facility that will help it ramp up its lending power just days after it emerged it had instructed bankers to launch a sale process valuing it at north of £1bn. The fintech closed the credit line from a household name bank and private credit giant [...]
Exclusive: Octopus to swerve new private stock exchange Markets Octopus Energy will not join the delayed Pisces private stock market when it launches, its boss Greg Jackson has said, in a sign the utilities giant is distancing itself from the project after attending an event for interested companies last summer. Jackson told City AM that his multi-billion-pound firm had “no plans” to trade its [...]
Profit triples at SME lender Iwoca as loans near £1bn June 26, 2025 Profit has almost tripled at business lender Iwoca as its revenue jumped by nearly £100m in 2024, it has been revealed. The London-based firm, which provides credit to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has posted a pre-tax profit of £59.1m for its latest financial year. The total comes after the business reported a pre-tax profit of £21.7m [...]
More than 300,000 businesses plan job cuts as Reeves’ Budget starts to bite March 10, 2025 More than 300,000 businesses are expected to lay off workers, as a flurry of data reveals a jobs market slowdown following the government’s Budget measures on employment. The £25bn rise in national insurance contributions (NICs) announced by the Chancellor in October is set to kick in next month, while businesses are also reportedly spooked by [...]
Iwoca: Fintech lender secures £200m debt to support larger SMEs November 11, 2024 Small business lender Iwoca has secured £200m of debt funding as the fintech looks to grow its market share through bigger loans.
UK fintech stars warn capital gains tax hike could force them to relocate October 16, 2024 Prominent UK fintech founders have warned the new government that hiking capital gains tax risks forcing them out of the country, with nearly half already mulling relocation.
Iwoca mulls bigger loans and international expansion amid surge in demand June 3, 2024 Online credit provider Iwoca is looking at raising the size of its loans and expanding into a new country on the back of a surge in demand for small business funding from alternative lenders.
Big banks shun demand for SME lending as larger firms prioritised May 29, 2024 Big banks are set to withdraw even further from funding small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) this year, data shared exclusively with City A.M. suggests, as high street lenders face criticism for prioritising larger firms.