Howie’s Bistro raises £35K

Howie’s Bistro in Dunkeld has raised £35K through social lending website Funding Circle. The business is the first UK sole trade to do this. Funding Circle, the peer-to-peer lender, announced a few weeks ago that three million more businesses would be able to access finance directly from the public for the first time. Until recently peer-to-peer business lending has been available only to the UK’s 1.3 million limited companies, but it has now been extended to non-limited companies such as sole traders and small partnerships in an effort to boost access to finance for small firms. Howie’s owner Graham Howie said, “We couldn’t afford to waste six months waiting to hear from the banks. Alternative ways of accessing finance such as peer-to-peer lending are invaluable.”