23 Finance Monthly. Bus i ne s s & Economy offer new sources of capital in innovative ways. One such example of these lenders is ThinCats, who have lent more than £1.2bn to British businesses in the UK. Last year we were proud to have provided a mezzanine facility to ThinCats to support lending to SMEs affected by the pandemic. Our loan helped unlock £400m of funding to cashstrapped small businesses. The private debt industry’s approach to the forgotten S also extends to how we operate as a company. Every business has an important role to play in bettering, and giving back to, the society in which they operate. During the COVID pandemic, we supported two amazing causes. The first was Paperweight, a nationwide charity that helps support people with the burden of household paperwork and bureaucracy. We also partnered with a local school, many of whose families didn’t have laptops or paid-for internet. We provided both of these facilities, ensuring that children could continue learning during lockdown when the schools were shut, and teaching moved online. We are also hugely proud of Anna, our Polish finance manager, who has been coordinating our efforts in supporting Ukrainian refugees who are arriving in Poland. Anna’s local town quickly became a base for hundreds of families, and through her incredible work she has helped over two hundred refugees. Uniting around the S in ESG serves as a powerful reminder that private debt isn’t just about competition. Ultimately, finance underpins so much innovation and progress in the world; we, therefore, need the industry to collaborate and be moving in the same direction, rather than competing – especially around social issues. Better collaboration can help us all achieve the shared goal of making the world a better place. The industry’s primary priority will always be there to generate steady returns for its investors, but this needn’t be at the detriment of our responsibility to the society. Generating consistent returns whilst lending to and supporting companies that make a genuine difference is not just compatible but is at the core of how the industry should approach lending. “Small businesses are the lifeblood of the British economy, with SMEs accounting for of the business population.” 99.9% Adam Marks VP Business Development Fintex Capital
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