Tag: ArchOver

ARCHOVER HEADED FOR A RECORD YEAR OF LENDING

Author
Ashlee Dutton
Date

ArchOver, the peer-to-peer (P2P) business lending platform, has revealed that it has nearly doubled its overall lending in the first nine months of this year. Since January 2017, total lending over the platform has reached £21.39 million, bringing the cumulative total that ArchOver has lent to date to over £48 million. Proving that the appetite for P2P services from investors and borrowers is continuing to grow, ArchOver is set for a record year as it rapidly approaches the £50 million lending mark.

“Looking back over the last three years, we have seen a huge spike in demand for P2P. On one hand, investors and savers are recognising that they need to make their money work harder. This means taking their funds out of low-interest environments to gain greater returns,” explained Angus Dent, CEO of ArchOver. “On the other hand, we’ve also seen a growing awareness among borrowers that there are alternatives to traditional lending and P2P can provide the funds to take businesses forward and support growth.”

Alongside stocks, bonds and property, P2P is increasingly being incorporated into investors and savers portfolios. In less than 10 months, ArchOver has more than doubled its number of investors. There are now 624 investors using the platform, up from 304 at the end of December 2016. On average, lenders are receiving a rate of return of 7.3 per cent per annum. Highlighting how investor confidence is growing, lenders will typically make up to eight pledges on the platform.

Borrowers’ appetite for P2P has also grown as the number of loans funded using the business lending platform has reached over 200. In addition, borrowers are increasingly seeking more significant sums of money. All loans are for a fixed term, fixed rate and fixed amount to give businesses the security they need to plan ahead. ArchOver has begun facilitating loans of higher value with UK SMEs including Prospect Business Centres Limited (“PBC”) and Duradiamond Healthcare Ltd (“Duradiamond”), each borrowing over £3 million.

Both companies have benefited significantly from borrowing using ArchOver’s two main lending models, its flagship ‘Secured & Insured’ model and the ‘Secured & Assigned’ model, which launched earlier this year. PBC has already grown their London property portfolio off the back of securing £3.1m in a series of loans from July to September 2017. While, Duradiamond, who borrowed £3.3m in a series of loans over nine months (March to November 2016), received the boost it needed to grow its business and become successful enough to repay the loan early, and with no penalty. The final payment was made in August 2017, four months before the repayment was due.

“Our business model allows us to provide lenders and borrowers with a personal and transparent approach that offers them reassurance,” concluded Dent. “Ultimately, we want to become an important partner in their growth so we can advance business borrowing for the better. At the same time, we want to ensure that lender security is a priority so we can offer a rate of return that’s higher than expected

given the level of security. We are confident that this approach will allow us to continue growing successfully and support us in our move towards achieving profitability.”

For a comprehensive review of ArchOver, Orca Money has produced an independent Investment Report that provides an in-depth analysis on ArchOver. The report can be found by visiting Orca Money and entering the Coupon Code “ArchOver.”

ARCHOVER APPOINTS NICK JONES AS REGIONAL DIRECTOR

Author
Ashlee Dutton
Date

ArchOver, the peer-to-peer (P2P) business lending platform, has appointed Nick Jones as Regional Director. He will be responsible for growing the business’s network of borrowers across the Thames Valley and Chiltern areas as part of ArchOver’s aim to lend more than £60 million by the end of the year. Jones will proactively identify businesses that have been trading for more than three years, have a turnover of more than £3 million and are looking for credit to continue growing. He joins an expanding team of regional representatives, with ArchOver now sourcing funding for businesses across London, the South East, the Midlands, the North and the Home Counties.

“The Thames Valley and Chilterns are hubs to some of the UK’s fastest growing businesses,” commented Angus Dent, CEO of ArchOver. “Adding Nick to our team of Regional Directors will allow us to continue building a stronger presence in areas where there is a concentration of SMEs requiring finance and fuel growth.”

Jones brings nearly 40 years’ experience in banking relationship management, and has built strategic client relationships across a wide range of industries including manufacturing, technology, international trade, engineering and automotive. Most recently, he was relationship director at NatWest and prior to that, senior manager of commercial banking at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc., where he was responsible for offering financial advice and delivering a high-quality experience and service to customers. As part of his role at ArchOver, he will leverage a network of brokers, professionals and consultants to meet local businesses looking to access new credit facilities.

“Nick has built a career on deep and long-lasting relationships with customers, which are essential to build trust and add to our growing pool of borrowers,” added Angus Dent, CEO, ArchOver. “It’s important that ArchOver differentiates itself by offering real value and financial help to SMEs. This latest appointment will enable us to build a strong partnership that supports our current momentum and help more businesses achieve their goals.”

“I was attracted to ArchOver because of its mission to help support the growth of British businesses across the country,” Jones concluded. “The finance world is changing and companies are looking for alternatives to the banks. With peer-to-peer lending taking a step forward, I’m excited to be joining ArchOver with a clear mandate to provide financial services that can be tailored to meet individual businesses’ needs.”

P2P LENDING PLATFORM ARCHOVER SELECTS LEWIS FOR UK COMMUNICATIONS CAMPAIGN

Author
Ashlee Dutton
Date

LEWIS, the global communications agency, has been selected by ArchOver, the P2P business lending sevice, to deliver a communications programme aimed at driving greater awareness of alternative financing among small-to-medium businesses and investors in the UK.

ArchOver provides UK based SMEs with the facility to borrow from £250,000, where the loans are secured with an all-asset charge over the borrower’s business and registered at Companies House. Unlike other peer-to-peer lending facilities, all borrower revenues flow through controlled bank accounts owned by ArchOver and the borrower, and the value of the security are monitored monthly throughout the loan term. This combined approach of an all-assets charge, control over the cash flow and monthly monitoring provides enhanced security to the lenders. This differentiator has attracted a range of individuals seeking a secure and favourable return on their investment, currently up to nine per cent per annum. The business is growing rapidly with ArchOver having already lent over £37m, secured full FCA authorisation and generated an average return of 7.26 per cent to its investors.

In a competitive pitch process, ArchOver selected LEWIS for its approach to driving awareness as part of an integrated marketing strategy to attract new lenders and borrowers to the platform. LEWIS will use its storytelling approach to explain and evangelise the merits of alternative financing.

Ashlee Dutton, marketing manager, ArchOver, said, “We chose LEWIS because they showed very clearly how they would engage our target audiences with the right content across the right channels. They demonstrated market knowledge, strategy, and creative storytelling. We are excited about the partnership and have already seen some great results in the short time we have been working together.”

Ruth Jones, Deputy Managing Director UK, LEWIS said, “UK SME’s are the growth engine of the economy yet traditional financing is hard to secure for the majority. ArchOver’s P2P lending platform is disruptive as it provides a new platform for borrowing, while giving individuals a safer way to realise better returns. We are excited to be part of the team that gets to share the ArchOver story.”

ARCHOVER PARTNERS WITH ESCALATE TO OFFER INCREASED SECURITY AND RAPID DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Author
Ashlee Dutton
Date

London, UK – 14 June 2017 – ArchOver, the peer-to-peer (P2P) business lending platform, has announced it is the first UK lender to partner with Escalate, a fixed-cost commercial dispute resolution service for SMEs. The partnership will enhance ArchOver’s ability to provide secure loans to the SME market, helping borrowers to bring in disputed payments and enhancing security for lenders as a result.

Escalate’s rapid no-win no-fee dispute resolution will enable ArchOver to recover any contested assets used as security for loans over the ArchOver platform, further enhancing its market-leading secured lending services. Escalate will ensure that lenders on the platform are protected by ensuring contested debts are paid and repayments can be made on time, working in tandem with ArchOver’s insurance partner firm Coface and the company’s all-asset charge on borrower assets.

Borrowers who don’t have time to chase down their disputed debts will also benefit from Escalate’s resolution service by using it to recover invoices that could be used for additional security. This will ultimately increase the amount they are able to borrow.

“Within the SME market, all sorts of debt tends to be written off due to the time and money it takes to chase debtors down,” explained Ian Anderson, ArchOver COO. “With Escalate on board, we will now be able to help SMEs to recover that debt, managing their cash flow and increasing their ability to access essential funding as a result. Combining our monthly monitoring and insurance policies with Escalate’s dispute resolution will also enable us to provide that extra level of assurance for our lenders, reinforcing ArchOver’s position as one of the most security-focused P2P platforms in the market.”

Escalate was created by a group of leading professional services businesses to bring fixed cost, no-win no-fee services to commercial dispute. It combines the capabilities of accountancy firms PKF Littlejohn, Haines Watts and Price Bailey with law firms such as Bermans and Moore Blatch, and the expertise of Flaxmans, a legal expenses provider and insurance claims mediation specialist.

Chris Clay, one of the architects of the Escalate process, said: “Escalate’s successful launch has been sup-ported by its network of forward-thinking partners that recognise the platform’s genuinely disruptive of-fer. ArchOver shares our ambitions, ethos and commitment to shaking up the market, so partnering with them was a natural next step for us.‎”