Lenders need to prioritize broker education if they wish to capitalise on the SME funding market, according to Louise Beaumont of Platform Black.

Speaking in a seminar on filling the SME funding gap at this year’s NACFB Commercial Expo, Louise called on improved broker education within the market, if the business community is going to become fully aware of all the different models of finance that is available to them.

Addressing the crowd of 100 brokers, Louise Beaumont, Chief Sales & Marketing Director, said: “The actual answer is you, [the brokers], the onus is on you to educate businesses on the many different financial models available to them”.

On the other hand, Stephen Johnson, Managing Director of Commercial Lending at Shawbrook Bank, felt that PR was a far superior incentive to ensuring that the SME market understands the alternatives to High Street lending. Stephen recalled the success that Shawbrook has seen, as a result of close working relationships with the Press, even citing a Financial Times headline: “More Shawbrooks please”…

The panel, made up of Stephen Johnson, Louise Beaumont, Tony Geary of Barclays Bank and Laura McMullen of Funding Circle, was then asked a simple yet pertinent question: ‘Are the lenders here to stay?’

Stephen Johnson highlighted the importance of creating a sustainable market, by reaching a stage where lenders no longer need to chase a deal, instead becoming enough of a household name to maintain stability.

Stephen also revealed that the biggest change within the industry has been a distinct improvement in access to liquidity. Exit strategies have been significantly improved according to the Managing Director of Commercial Mortgages, who suggested that the improved liquidity had meant that parting with cash had become far easier.

When addressing the stability of the British market, Laura McMullen, Business Development Director, instead cited a comparison with the American system, with 25 per cent of lending in the States done by Banks, as opposed to the British business lending sector, where almost 90 per cent is still done by the High Street banks.

Speaking on the longevity of the alternative finance sector, Laura said: “Only time will tell, it’s good that there is the appetite and credit available to those who want it, and a lot of opportunity to look outside the High Street Banking spectrum”.

In a resounding conclusion, Tony Geary, Head of Commercial Lending at Barclays, was asked whether challenger banks and lenders will ever become household names, and appeared to disagree, claiming that there was still, “a lot of work to be done”.