An Open Letter to Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer

Rangewell have today sent an Open Letter to Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, regarding the Coronavirus Business Interruption Lending Scheme

27th March 2020

Dear Chancellor,

Rangewell are business finance experts and every year we help thousands of businesses find, compare and apply for finance - we work with the widest range of lenders.

In 2019 we transacted with 87 lenders and are one of the largest introducers of business to some of the High Street Banks. 

Importantly, every Deal Progressor at Rangewell has worked at High Street Banks and Mainstream Lenders - we’ve been at the coalface with them, we understand what they do and respect the immense effort they are putting in to making the Coronavirus Business Interruption Lending Scheme (CBILS) a success.

But privately, the High Street Banks and Mainstream Lenders are telling us they’re already swamped with applications and will not be able to deal with the large number of SMEs who will need to access the scheme - we are calling on you to widen the lenders who can access the scheme with immediate effect.

Britain has the most active and diversified range of lenders in the world, many of whom emerged from the last financial crisis.

These lenders, and many others like them, already work alongside government agencies to diversify the source of funding to British SMEs and they want to help and support SMEs through the CBILS scheme. Examples include:

• Funding Circle - who have worked alongside the European Investment Bank since 2016 to invest £100million in loans to UK SMEs
• Iwoca - one of the fintech funders recently awarded a £10million grant from the Capability and Innovation Fund
• Lending Crowd - supported by the Scottish Investment Bank since 2016 to meet gaps in the supply and demand for finance within the Scottish market
• MarketFinance - supported by the British Business Bank and already working alongside Barclays as their Invoice Finance Partner
• Thincats - a British Business Bank partner who focus on lending to growth businesses and businesses where management teams are being revitalised.

Britain’s fintech lenders are world leaders and have rightfully been lauded and supported by successive governments. It would be remiss to not incorporate such expertise and resources into the Coronavirus Business Interruption Lender Scheme - they stand ready to help - you should accept their offers as quickly as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Rangewell