Rushcliffe Borough Council has become the tenth council to lend directly to small businesses via the Funding Circle.
The Local Business Lending Partnership will enable the council to lend up to £500,000 to local businesses via the online marketplace.
Cllr Neil Clarke, Leader of the Borough Council, said: ‘This scheme will help local business grow, as money can be obtained quicker than via high street banks and also at competitive rates.
‘Rushcliffe wants to boost Borough business – and this is a pioneering way of doing so which is low risk and high impact.’ Funding Circle was launched in August 2010 to help businesses struggling to access finance.
To date, more than £370m of loans have been lent to over 5,500 small businesses.
James Meekings co-founder of Funding Circle said: ‘Funding Circle investors have lent over £60m to small businesses in the Midlands in the last four years alone. This partnership with Rushcliffe Council will allow us to help even more of the Borough’s businesses.
‘Rushcliffe is the tenth council to use the Funding Circle marketplace to boost lending. We strongly believe this network will evolve to create a blueprint for an equivalent 21st century regional banking network.’
