News that Funding Circle has reached a major milestone underlines the major role of non-bank finance in the small business funding landscape.

In the first quarter of the year, investment in SMEs in the UK through Funding Circle passed the £50 million mark, an achievement that has prompted forecasts that the organisation could account for as much as 20% of small business lending over the next decade.

Whether it goes on to take such a significant slice of the market remains to be seen, especially with so many other schemes providing SMEs with access to funding, but the message behind the organisation’s performance is clear: non-bank finance is here to stay and is imperative to growth in the sector and the wider economy.

Further evidence of the importance of alternative finance has been provided by new data from the Forum of Private Business that shows that only one in five small businesses would consider switching banks. With small businesses proving reluctant to change provider, non-bank finance makes perfect sense: services such as invoice finance, peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding can be used in tandem with existing bank facilities to raise capital to maintain cashflow and to generate start-up funding.

Non-bank finance has moved into the mainstream and the rising number of SME lending milestones that are being reached and success stories being reported demonstrates the position these services now occupy. Their role is only set to grow in importance.

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