THE LATEST
FROM US.
Whether it’s our research in a national newspaper, writing on a partner site, industry announcements or winning an award, this is where you'll find out what Funding Options has been up to.
3 March 2020
Funding Options, the marketplace for business finance, has signed up for the HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter to demonstrate its commitment to increasing gender diversity both within its business, and across the industry.
24 February 2020
Competition terms and conditions.
13 November 2019
Funding Options, the marketplace for business finance, has partnered with predictive company intelligence platform, DueDil, to simplify its customer journey and speed up finance applications.
10 October 2019
Funding Options partners with Metro Bank to give their customers access to the 'alternative yes' journey if the bank isn't able to support their financial needs.
29 July 2019
John Glen MP, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, sat down with 11:FS to talk about Fintech and specifically mentioned the work Funding Options is doing to support SMEs
23 July 2019
Conrad Ford started Funding Options in 2012 and here he guides us through his journey and gives his tips on how small businesses can survive and thrive
10 July 2019
Fintech pioneer Nick Ogden has joined the board of Funding Options, the UK’s leading business finance marketplace, as non-executive chairman.
3 July 2019
Funding Options is now offering pre-approvals with select lenders, giving small businesses clarity about whether they are likely to be accepted for funding before they apply.
25 June 2019
Funding Options has beaten off tough competition to secure itself a place as a finalist in the Best Marketing Campaign category of the first-ever Growth Finance Awards.
17 June 2019
We’re proud to announce that Funding Options has been chosen as one of the promising fintech companies to join the ‘Ones to Watch’ Supplement by Fintech Power 50.
14 June 2019
Funding Options has pledged to use this grant to deliver £0.5 billion of new alternative lending to UK small businesses by the end of 2022.
13 June 2019
Conrad Ford explains what customers expect from asset finance these days and how it affects lenders.
12 June 2019
Conrad Ford, CEO and founder of Funding Options, explains how Open Banking has performed so far, and what we could do to increase its usage in the future.
11 June 2019
We were delighted to host John Glen MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, at Funding Options HQ
5 June 2019
In an interview with Computerworld UK, Funding Options' Managing Director Ryan Edwards-Pritchard describes the SME lending landscape and what the future of business banking holds.
5 June 2019
Funding Options is collaborating with Yolt, who have shown clear leadership in driving Open Banking adoption, to embrace the potential of Open Banking and solve the challenge of access to finance for small businesses.
3 June 2019
More than half of small business owners say they want more help managing their finances, with almost a third adding they have lost sleep over money matters as Brexit continues to dominate the UK economy.
17 May 2019
"Helping The Small Walk Tall" resonates with judges and businesses all over the UK
3 May 2019
Ryan was on the panel 'Supporting Little Big Business' to discuss how FinTech can support small businesses in the UK and the innovation that emerged to help business owners tackle day-to-day challenges.
3 May 2019
Funding Options attended this year’s Accountex on 1 and 2 May at the ExCel London.
5 April 2019
In this article our CEO and founder Conrad Ford shares his expertise on expanding a fintech company into Europe and offers four key takeaways.
13 March 2019
The government's flagship small business lending scheme has seen the value of loans being offered fall to a record low, Funding Options research has shown
25 February 2019
Dean Spencer joins Funding Options to head up the growing Sales team
11 February 2019
Funding Options Founder and CEO Conrad Ford attended and spoke at the Paris Fintech Forum 2019, one of the leading events in the Fintech calendar.
7 February 2019
Funding Options has partnered with leading foreign currency exchange provider Caxton FX to offer UK businesses a prepaid Business Currency Card
25 January 2019
Tech Nation has announced the 30 businesses spearheading their programme to help tech scaleups reach the next level
25 January 2019
Bloomberg has published research by Funding Options into how much is owed by UK businesses to HMRC
16 January 2019
Research by Funding Options, revealing an 11% rise in the time suppliers have to wait for payments compared to two years ago, has been published by City AM, The Daily Mail and This is Money.
6 December 2018
Funding Options has been named a winner in the second phase of Nesta's Open Up Challenge, one of only three companies to have won both stages
6 December 2018
Global business magazine Forbes names Funding Options one of the UK's most innovative fintechs for SMEs, alongside the likes of Funding Circle
29 November 2018
Conrad Ford, founder and CEO of Funding Options, was named ‘Entrepreneurs’ Champion of the Year’ at the NatWest Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2018.
28 November 2018
Ryan Edwards-Pritchard, Managing Director at Funding Options, shared his knowledge with business owners on how to raise investment as part of London & Partners' growth programme.
13 November 2018
For the first time, a Funding Options customer used Open Banking to successfully source a small business loan.
12 November 2018
Funding Options wins “Best Commercial Finance Broker” at the Credit Strategy Lending Awards 2018
29 October 2018
Funding Options announced that Alastair Preacher has joined their team as Chief Product Officer to ramp up their product and scale the company's operations.
15 October 2018
Funding Options research into rising HMRC asset seizures is covered in The Independent and City AM
19 September 2018
ING Ventures, the fintech venture capital arm of the Netherlands-based global bank, has taken a £5m minority equity stake in Funding Options
6 September 2018
Funding Options has been named as one of 20 of the UK’s most promising Fintech companies, joining Tech Nation’s first Fintech programme this autumn. The cohort includes some of the UK’s most promising fintech startups and reflects major trends in the fast maturing fintech sector where the UK is an acknowledged global leader.
3 September 2018
Our Managing Director Ryan on the 11:FS Fintech Insider podcast, talking about RBS, Starling, Google Pay, and even Warren Buffet
31 August 2018
In this guest post from Float, Catriona Bane looks at how to work with an accountant to make the most of cash flow software
30 August 2018
Conrad Ford, founder and CEO of Funding Options, has been shortlisted at this year’s NatWest Great British Entrepreneur Awards in the category of Entrepreneur’s Champion of the Year.
21 June 2018
Nesta, the innovation foundation, has chosen Funding Options as one of ten participants for the second phase of the Open Up Challenge
18 June 2018
Funding Options research into Carillion’s impact on small construction firms was picked up by the Daily Express, i, and Metro
7 June 2018
We’re pleased to announce that Funding Options is launching in the Netherlands, to help Dutch businesses find the right funding
4 June 2018
Ryan Edwards-Pritchard appeared on the FinTech Insider Podcast by 11:FS to talk about GDPR and why it's more popular than Beyoncé
16 May 2018
Funding Options CEO appeared on Sage Facebook live, with Sage Group Chief Executive Stephen Kelly, to discuss leadership in 2018
15 May 2018
Float look at a number of key things to help you identify financial need for your business
30 April 2018
Conrad Ford was quoted in the Times on the RBS alternative remedies package and the Capability and Innovation Fund, saying the fund will drive more choice for small businesses
23 April 2018
In this guest article, Clear Books look at some of the key things to prepare when you're thinking about applying for business finance, and how accounting software could help
3 April 2018
Funding Options research, revealing that the bosses of construction companies are lending 35% more to their own businesses than last year, is featured on Sky News
28 March 2018
Challenger bank TSB will launch a new Marketplace service in May, where business banking customers can compare TSB products with dozens of providers using Funding Options
27 March 2018
Funding Options has been featured in Raconteur's Future of Money 2018, a special fintech report published in The Times, as one of 7 fintech platforms fuelling small business growth
15 March 2018
Conrad Ford looks at how you can use finance to manage your tax bill
2 February 2018
Conrad Ford looks at what the new Open Banking APIs could mean for accountants and their clients
2 February 2018
Funding Options founder Conrad Ford joined UK Prime Minister Theresa May and Trade Minister Liam Fox MP in their recent delegation to China
23 January 2018
Lucy Burton, Financial Services Editor, reveals the FCA wants more small businesses to be protected
10 January 2018
James Hurley on the imminent arrival of Open Banking and how it could change business funding, with comment from Funding Options CEO Conrad Ford
8 January 2018
John Detrixhe of Quartz looks at fundraising in UK fintech in the wake of the Brexit vote, with comment from Funding Options MD Ryan Edwards-Pritchard
5 January 2018
Many of us hold back for fear of being perceived as rude or aggressive, and miss out on opportunities as a result, Nick Levine writes
18 December 2017
Divido explain how retail finance works, and why it’s increasingly important for online sales
13 December 2017
Nesta, the innovation foundation, has chosen Funding Options as one of ten winners in the Open Up Challenge
29 November 2017
Harriet Phimister of Float explains the difference between a profit and loss budget and a cashflow forecast, and how you should be using both
20 November 2017
Louise Tickle of The Guardian looks at where the business banking sector is heading, with comment from Funding Options CEO Conrad Ford.
13 November 2017
James Hurley examines the proposal to increase the scope of the Financial Ombudsman Service, with comment from Funding Options CEO Conrad Ford
31 October 2017
Funding Options wins “Best Commercial Finance Broker” at the Credit Strategy Commercial Finance Awards 2017
23 October 2017
Freya Hughes of FUTRLI looks at the top five reasons you should be forecasting your cashflow
9 October 2017
Funding Options is a finalist for "Best Commercial Finance Broker" at the Credit Strategy Awards 2017
18 August 2017
Our Managing Director, Ryan Edwards-Pritchard, spoke to Innovate Finance about scaling up, keeping employees happy, Ironman training, and giving up coffee.
11 August 2017
Funding Options CEO Conrad Ford appeared on the London Fintech Podcast to discuss transitioning from being a startup to a scaleup, the pros and cons of a corporate strategy background, and how the Rocky films relate to being in Fintech
7 August 2017
Funding Options research into construction firm bosses lending money to their own businesses receives coverage in the New York Times and South China Morning Post
7 August 2017
Conrad appeared on Facebook live with Sage UK to discuss alternative finance and the future of technology
28 July 2017
Funding Options case studies highlighted in the government-backed British Business Bank’s Annual Report
19 July 2017
Funding Options is one of twenty firms chosen to participate in Nesta's Open Up Challenge, a £5 million prize to encourage fintech firms to explore Open Banking APIs
10 July 2017
Research by Funding Options is featured on the BBC and in the Telegraph, the Independent, the Times, Metro, and City AM
12 June 2017
Conrad Ford spoke to Adelina Rusu of Salesforce about the early days of Funding Options and what Open Banking could mean for the future of the industry
22 May 2017
Richard Leader of Funding Options appeared on the BBC this week to discuss the reduction in bank lending to small pub companies.
19 May 2017
Conrad Ford tells Business Insider the 8 things graduates should know about entering the FinTech world
12 May 2017
CEO Conrad Ford announces that Funding Options is considering new funding in 2017 to accelerate our growth
5 May 2017
Gareth Mackie of The Scotsman covers research by Funding Options on the 'make do and mend' economy
4 May 2017
Josephine Moulds looks at some of the new alternative methods of funding that entrepreneurs are using to fund new ventures, with comment from Funding Options CEO Conrad Ford
16 February 2017
Nesta, the innovation foundation, is launching a £5 million prize to encourage fintech firms to explore Open Banking APIs
10 February 2017
The Telegraph’s Heidi Scrimgeour looks at some of the options available to scale-up businesses looking for growth funding, with comment from Funding Options CEO Conrad Ford
8 February 2017
Mike Stanley, one of our Business Finance Specialists, gives us his top five tips for business funding
1 February 2017
The Evening Standard’s Anthony Hilton says we should heed Lord Turner’s warning that peer-to-peer lending will be caught out by an economic downturn — while remembering the important impact P2P has already had on small business lending.
20 January 2017
Mike Stanley, one of our Business Finance Specialists, looks at the questions you should never ask during an application for business funding
1 November 2016
Today marks an important milestone for firms all over the UK — the long-awaited scheme is finally underway
10 October 2016
Conrad Ford discusses the upcoming Bank Referral Scheme and the role of Government Designated Finance Platforms with James Hurley, Enterprise Editor at The Times
11 August 2016
Funding Options founder and CEO Conrad Ford explores the implications of the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) report.
9 August 2016
Today’s CMA announcement is a welcome endorsement of the important principle that consumers should have control of their own data.
30 June 2016
The Guardian cites Funding Options research highlighting the death of SME overdrafts
11 June 2016
Our recent research released on Monday the 11th has been covered in the press by various outlets.
20 May 2016
Alastair Barlow of PwC My Financepartner looks at the three metrics you should care about if you’re looking for investment.
18 April 2016
We’re delighted to announce that we will be partnering with the London Stock Exchange to host a roundtable event on the 12th of May, to discuss and debate the opportunities to improve SME finance availability.
6 April 2016
Lexoo talk us through how to choose a lawyer for your business
3 March 2016
World First talk us through how to grow your business internationally
23 February 2016
Our recent research released on Monday the 22nd has been covered in the press by various outlets, including the Express and the Manchester Evening News.
9 February 2016
This week Conrad spoke to Laura Noonan of the Financial Times, whose article covered the rise of challenger banks within alternative finance, and their increasing importance in the sector.
22 January 2016
Funding Options founder and CEO Conrad Ford appeared on the Today programme to discuss the problems facing many housebuilding firms, including how their lack of access to finance is holding back overall housebuilding levels.
3 December 2015
Funding Options founder and CEO Conrad Ford explores how to overcome the SME alt fi knowledge gap in today's City A.M., examining the impact of overdraft removal on UK businesses and the question of how to connect SMEs to the thriving alt fi market.
13 November 2015
Anthony Hilton at the Evening Standard highlights the critical economic importance of funding for SMEs.
26 October 2015
Growth opportunities for a large number of UK SMEs are being affected by the reduction and removal of business overdrafts by mainstream lenders. Around 17% of small and medium enterprise businesses are reporting that their overdrafts have been axed completely – with 30% seeing reductions in the last two years.
12 October 2015
On Monday the 12th of October, CityAM ran an article based on Funding Options research that shows ‘Lack of funding for small businesses could cost the UK up to £2.9bn’. This story was also covered by FreshBusinessThinking.com and Startups.co.uk
10 October 2015
Davenham Asset Finance is a privately-owned, independent asset-backed lender, operating in the SME sector. From their Manchester headquarters, they serve a national client base predominantly through broker intermediaries as well as direct.
8 October 2015
Earlier this week, I discussed the UK's burgeoning financial technology (FinTech) sector on the BBC's Today radio programme, in particular talking about opportunities outside of London. This is a subject close to my heart, as in 2014 Funding Options took the gamble of moving its main operations centre out of London, and into the Northwest. This was contrarian, as London is rapidly emerging as perhaps the world leader in FinTech, mixing world-class creative industries with a status as the leading international financial centre.
25 September 2015
Funding Options and the Bank Referral Scheme were discussed by Anthony Hilton in his City Comment column in the Evening Standard yesterday. Addressing the question of who SMEs will be referred to under the Scheme, Anthony Hilton talks about Funding Options’ expertise in this area.
26 August 2015
Our nomination for the Innovation in Supporting Business or Enterprise - Alternative Finance award recognises the work we are doing in matching the needs of UK businesses with over 50 different lenders. Our mission is to make business finance easy. We love helping firms from around the UK, as well as working with their most trusted advisors such as accountants, finance professionals and trade federations. This nomination shows once again that the innovative technology Funding Options deploys makes a real difference to small businesses who struggle to get finance from traditional sources.
24 August 2015
Funding Options has, this week, been shortlisted for the prestigious BCS UK IT Industry Awards in the ‘Technology Excellence’ category. The team here are proud to have been selected as front-runners for the UK Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award at the awards hosted by the chartered institute for IT. Finalists will be judged on Friday 25th September 2015 and the awards dinner will be on Wednesday 18th November 2015 – so watch out for Funding Options, and wish us luck!
19 August 2015
Our chief executive, Conrad Ford, featured on Share Radio’s Morning Money show discussing the shape of small business lending in the UK. In a short clip from the show (which you can listen to here), Conrad explained that, on the topic of bank lending, banks can adapt to changes in the way SMEs are lent to; another positive message that Funding Options is keen to reiterate, even in these unsure times. Host Billy Bambrough also spoke with Chris Skinner, founder of the Financial Services Club, and Adam Tavener Chairman of Clifton Asset Management on various related topics.
10 August 2015
A lot has been said about the hotly anticipated bank referral scheme lately, especially given the recent promising figures about alternative lending. As expected, this has led to a little impatience and uncertainty as to when the scheme will actually be going ahead and what the best method of implementation will be. This said, with lots of planning and organisation, we understand that there is a lot brewing under the surface, as we believe Funding Options is in a prime position to get moving with the scheme – and our CEO Conrad Ford has moved to allay fears by appearing in the Telegraph this week.
29 July 2015
In an exciting piece of news, two of GLI Finance’s forefront portfolio companies have been shortlisted for the British Bank Referral Program. What is essentially a great development for Funding Options, will also benefit the market, with CEO of GLI Finance, Geoff Miller saying: “Both Funding Options and Finpoint have successfully positioned themselves at the forefront of the sector’s evolution and will play a key role in developing an SME credit ecosystem that’s fit for purpose.”
8 July 2015
With the July tax deadline looming, SME cashflow becomes a major issue with a sharp rise in businesses seeking help to maintain their already stretched working capital levels. This ‘unexpected’ cost commonly knocks a smoothly running and successfully trading business off track a little, and can in some cases really damage seasonal and cash-poor businesses – leading to increased bank finance applications. This, combined with bank rejections, and difficulties at matching businesses to the right type of finance, is another real reason Funding Options are at the centre of easing this problem – by matching businesses to the right lender. This, according to Funding Options CEO Conrad Ford, and as mentioned in a recent article on pyments.com, is because “small business owners are typically generalists rather than experts in finance, and on the other they’re also incredibly busy, often working more than 60 hours per week. This doesn’t lend itself to navigating the small business finance market, where here in the U.K. there are hundreds of alternative finance providers…”, hence creating a service which wholly solves this common problem – and for the latest problem at hand; July tax deadline.
12 June 2015
As we always say, looking for (non-bank) finance in such a vast and competitive market is rather difficult, especially when running a business involves so much more concentration on other areas. Our CEO Conrad Ford has discussed what the options are, and in the process provided 6 things to think about when sourcing a financial product for a small business.
5 June 2015
For anyone involved in business finance, you’re probably aware the government are taking huge steps to create a ‘powerhouse’ of business in the north. With such visions of grandeur, it’s becoming apparent that the process of turning this dream into a reality is a rather complex one. This said, there have been plenty of parties keen to gather and contribute to the improvement of SMEs in the north, and we predict progress… soon. One of the key components of this movement is to directly help those at the heart of it – this includes existing business, firms looking to grow, and start-ups.
28 May 2015
This week we were paid a visit by Innovate UK – our first ever backer – after we recently raised £2 million funding from private investors. For those who don’t know, Innovate UK is an organisation set up by the UK government, designed to help technology firms get into market. Funding Options was lucky enough to win the Innovate UK Tech City launchpad competition back in 2011 when we were first starting out. They believed in the idea of what Funding Options could do for small business owners & their ability to access finance. In the video with Innovate UK , Conrad talks about how Funding Options managed to secure the grant & how crucial it was for the long term ambition of the company.