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Alternative lender boosts funding options for UK SMEs through national expansion

Independent asset manager BOOST&Co is expanding across the UK, offering a wider range of funding options to SMEs by establishing a presence in Birmingham, Reading and Leeds.

The lender has hired nine new principals to better serve businesses throughout the country, and now has dealmakers in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Reading and Leeds.
 
This expansion will enable BOOST&Co to provide more UK businesses with alternative finance – particularly important as high-street banks increasingly shy away from lending to SMEs. The lender has instead committed to supporting these companies, wherever they are based, by hiring principals across the country to provide on-the-ground support with local expertise. 
 
BOOST&Co is a leading provider of growth capital for innovative, fast-growing UK SMEs. It offers loans from GBP2 million to GBP10 million, and has a strong track record in technology, media and telecommunications (TMT), but supports firms in all sectors.
 
The lender has funded more than GBP500 million across more than 130 deals, and provided close to GBP200 million under the government’s CBILS initiative in 2020 and 2021 to support UK SMEs during the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
Kim Martin, head of the south and Midlands at BOOST&Co, says: “As our team grows, this structure will ensure that we provide genuinely national coverage, embedding ourselves in – and committing to – regions outside the capital. 
 
“We have expanded to Manchester, Bristol and Cambridge in the past three years; we now want to deepen our local networks and become an important part of the infrastructure in other key cities.
 
“We want companies to know that there’s an alternative to high-street banks and private equity. It’s hard for small businesses to access finance at the best of times, so we are delighted to expand our coverage and increase firms’ options in the wake of Covid-19.”
 
Joanna Scott, head of London and the east at BOOST&Co, says: “We’re seeing an increasing need for alternative debt, so we’re expanding to serve the businesses that need funding to help them grow.
 
“The vast majority of venture debt and private equity funds don’t have regional offices, but it’s undeniable that a lot of business owners – as well as accountants, lawyers and advisors – appreciate speaking to someone who’s in their patch.”
 

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