Sheffield based corporate finance specialist, Castle Square Corporate Finance, has announced a collaboration with alternative credit specialist Caple for unsecured SME debt finance.
Steve Bell, Director at Castle Square said, “Whilst we are seeing robust funding markets, with an ever-expanding selection of funding options we still see requirements where the level of funding is a stretch for some of the major UK lenders. Caple offers unsecured lending with the funding decisions based on long-term cash flow projections without the need for any collateral or personal guarantees as security. This means it is complementary to bank debt. The target market is those SMEs and owner-managed businesses who require for long-term unsecured finance of between £500,000 and £5 million.”
Supported by Caple’s proprietary technology platform, Castle Square will assess the eligibility of its clients for funding and prepare and review of business plans and financial forecasts. The collaboration is part of Castle Square’s ambition to broaden its service offering, also ensuring its clients can access these funds.
Caple debt can sit alongside bank finance and provide additional support to a bank’s customer, over and above where the bank can get to without the need for intercreditor agreements.
Steve Bell said, “In many situations debt finance is critical to clients’ growth, and management succession but options are limited, especially in those situations where assets for security are limited or non-existent. We’re excited to be offering this funding option from Caple, giving our clients greater options for accessing long term unsecured finance.”
Caple originates loans through its network of partner business advisory firms such as Castle Square. It combines this with a credit assessment by Caple’s credit analysis teams, creating a seamless, end-to-end process.
Dominic Buch, co-founder and managing partner of Caple said, “Ten years after the financial crash, SMEs still face challenges in raising debt finance for growth or management succession. This is because banks in general fund an amount that reflects the assets in the business and if a business has no further assets, banks can’t help. In a service-based economy such as the UK, this can create a barrier to growth and may push some businesses to issue equity instead of raising debt.
Caple is the first in the UK to offer long term unsecured lending between £500,000 and £5 million with terms of between five and eight years. A clear USP is that we require no collateral or personal guarantee as security. Finance is complementary to the businesses’ existing bank facilities.”
