As 2025 draws to a close, we want to look back honestly on our first full year of lending. We began trading in November 2024, so this has been the year we found our feet: learning what UK companies actually need, getting some things right, getting others wrong, and changing course where we needed to. Above all, it has been a year made possible by the businesses that trusted a new lender, and we want to thank you properly.
This is a review, not a victory lap. The most useful thing we can do is be clear about what we learned and what we changed, so you can judge us on what we actually did.
What we set out to do
At the start of the year we promised three modest things: clearer communication, stronger support when times are hard, and a growing knowledge base. We deliberately kept the list short so we could actually deliver it.
What we changed
Looking back, here is what those promises turned into:
- We grew and extended our support. We welcomed new colleagues to the team and, later in the year, extended our support hours, so it became easier to reach a real person when you needed one.
- We refreshed the customer portal. Tracking your loan, signing documents, making payments and downloading statements all got simpler, on the web and the app.
- We invested in our technology. Stronger security, more reliable Open Banking connections and steadier systems behind the scenes.
- We rewrote our paperwork in plainer English and widened our knowledge base, including clearer guidance on the Key Information Sheet (KIS).
We also passed an early milestone of supporting more than a thousand UK companies, and we listened hard to your reviews, simplifying the application and improving updates because you told us to.
What we learned
A few lessons stand out. People value plain language more than almost anything; jargon erodes trust quickly. People want to reach a human when money is involved, and quickly. And being honest about cost, including saying plainly that a short-term loan is expensive compared with a bank overdraft or a longer-term facility, builds more trust than glossing over it ever could.
We also learned, again, the importance of being straight about what our product is not. Because we lend to companies for business purposes, this lending falls outside FCA consumer-credit regulation under Article 60B FSMA RAO 2001, and it is not covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service or the FSCS. We would rather you knew that from us than discovered it later.
What stayed constant
Some things did not change, by design. We lend to UK limited companies and LLPs for business purposes, to the company and not to its director personally, and we take no personal guarantee. We assess the company’s affordability, run a business credit check, and show every figure before you sign. Those are not policies we expect to revisit; they are the foundation of lending responsibly.
Thank you
Most of all, thank you. To every company that borrowed from us, to everyone who got in touch with a question, and to those who told us, sometimes bluntly, where we could do better: you shaped this year. We are grateful, and we do not take your trust for granted.
If a difficult patch is part of your year, please remember that help is there and reaching out early always gives us more options; our FAQs are a good first stop, and you can always reach a person through our contact page. We are looking forward to building on this in the year ahead, and to continuing to earn the trust you have placed in us. Thank you, and we wish you and your business a good new year.
