Superwoman Horlick sees referendum fallout from lack of investment and seeks clarity on “Brexit means Brexit”
CITY veteran Nicola Horlick, once dubbed superwoman for combining a stellar career in fund management with a large family, has warned that Brexit could have an impact on peer-to-peer lenders such as her venture Money&Co.
“Inevitably, large businesses will delay investment into the UK. So this will have an impact on smaller businesses and if they are suffering in some way that’s going to impact on us, as they’re more likely to have bad debts,” she said.
“Theresa May says Brexit means Brexit, but what does Brexit mean? She hasn’t actually explained. This is the biggest thing this country has had to face since the Second World War and I worry about how whether people fully understand the implications,” told Peer-to-Peer Finance News.
Horlick founded Money&Co in 2013. The venture focuses on lending money to small businesses, with a significant proportion of its borrowers coming from the manufacturing sector.
The Mayfair-based firm now has 11 full-time employees and two part-time staff. It has an average loan size of £350,000 – far larger than the typical loans given out by the ‘big eight’ platforms. However, it has only lent out £8m since its inception three years ago. But Horlick maintains that it’s quality, not quantity, which makes a good loan portfolio.
“You’ve got to be really careful, because if you flood the market with money, you’re going to end up getting a lot of bad debts,” she said.