Growing SME lending platform reaches £70m milestone

A digital platform specialising in business lending for SMEs and scaleups has now lent over £70m to UK firms.

Natwest’s standalone SME proposition Esme Loans has today announced that it has exceeded the £70m mark for lending to UK businesses.

Founded in 2017, Esme Loans has already accelerated growth this year with a series of new initiatives and partnerships.

As well as partnering with Microsoft to develop a data warehouse and AI assisted chat bot, the London-based firm begun offering facilities to sole traders, as well as offering lending facilities directly to NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland’s SME customers.

The firm has anticipated - based on its current trajectory - that it will have reached lending of £100m by the end of the year.

Commenting on reaching the milestone, Richard Kerton, CEO at Esme Loans said: “We’re pleased to have seen a sustained increase in customer interest and appetite during the summer months.

“Our digital process and fast approval times are resulting in UK SMEs increasingly choosing Esme Loans to help grow their business, and we’re making sure we repay their confidence in us by continuing to invest in our products, processes and technology.”