Leeds finance provider partnership raises more than £2.5m

A partnership between Access Commercial Finance, the Leeds-based finance provider, and the asset finance lending platform Ablrate has generated more than £2.5m worth of loans this year.

The origination partnership between the two firms has resulted in sizeable deals for a range of sectors, including an £800k funding boost for a previously mothballed Eco Park, near Newcastle - with a further £1.4m to follow.

The £800k raised though Ablrate and Access will get the waste management plant in Blaydon, which was shelved after it’s bank Lehman Bros collapsed in 2013, fully operational by October creating at least 30 jobs.

Some of the other loans that have been raised include £500k worth of finance for Catfoss cabins, and over £275k for Leeds-based Burning Night, which owns bar brands Bierkeller, Around the World and Shooters.

David Bradley-Ward, CEO of Ablrate, said: “Origination is always key to developing a successful platform and our partnership with Access has created loans close to £2.5m in the last quarter with a further £2m in the pipeline. We hope to be able to continue this level of business and work more closely with the team”.

Set up last year, Ablrate was launched in response to a gap in the market for a platform that offered loans for asset finance that weren’t too restrictive.

Since it’s inception, Ablrate, which stemmed from aircraft leasing but now includes capital equipment and property, has grown very quickly and already completed over £10m in loans in total through its platform. Part of its success has also been attributed to its secondary market, which allows lenders to buy or sell loans at any price.

Launched in 2014, Access has also seen rapid growth with offices in Leeds and Manchester, and clients such as Servo Group and Stack a Wraps that have grown through business finance provided by the firm’s own funds.

Matt Haycox from Access Finance, added: “By teaming up with Ablrate, we’ve been able to provide some amazing deals recently, for some really exciting, ambitious firms, and there will be much more to come through this partnership.

“Ablrate’s platform is very different from other crowdfunding sites, and it addresses the issues of finding finance for all kinds of capital equipment and property. Like us they manually underwrite all transactions allowing deals that historically wouldn’t fit in to other platforms complicated lending algorisms to find a place and get funded.

“Companies that need this type of funding can have great potential for high growth but because they are often operating in niche or unpopular markets, necessitating specialist knowledge, the right deal could be hard to find – up until now anyway.”