Borrowing Frequently Asked Questions

Q. My business has only recently been established and has not yet become profitable, can I get a loan through you?

A. Sorry but we are only able to lend to established and profitable businesses.

Q. I have been trying to raise equity capital for my business but I would much rather have a loan from you because I would not need to give up any shares. Would you be interested?

A. It’s not very likely; a Thincats loan is not a substitute for equity, we operate at much lower levels of risk than equity investors. However, a loan made at the same time as an equity investment could be attractive to all parties

Q. I already have an advisor can they be my ‘Sponsor’?

A. Only if they are already accredited by BLN as Sponsors. However they can help in the process and the Sponsor will normally share their fee when appropriate. The use of Sponsors is a key feature of BLN and their ability, impartiality and quality is very important to us and to our Lenders.

Q. I am concerned about confidentiality, who are the Lenders that will read my business plan and can I ‘vet’ them to make sure that none are my competitors or suppliers?

A. The Lender Members are all experienced private investors, companies or pension funds and all have signed an agreement to keep your information confidential. However, before and during the auction process you will only know them by a code name and you cannot exclude any Lender Member from seeing your information. If we find that Lenders are misusing information we will suspend their membership but that cannot undo previous breaches of confidence. There are two ways this problem can be minimised, firstly by making sure that your trade secrets are not included in your business plan in sufficient detail to be of use to a competitor and by using the Sponsor to act as an intermediary e.g. “the details of the production process are commercially confidential but we have observed it operating and it is clearly capable of meeting the expected increased demand without compromising quality”. On the other hand once the deal is done you will have a group of experienced business people who are all keen to see your business succeed (because they will get their loan back). They may make introductions to new business opportunities or even become your customers themselves. The final decision about the risks involved must be yours and if you are concerned you should not use the Network to raise a loan.

Q. How can I estimate the monthly repayment needed on a loan?

A. The amount of the fixed monthly repayments depends upon the amount borrowed, the rate of interest and the loan period. We have a spreadsheet that allows you to see how these variables will influence your monthly repayment CLICK HERE for a copy.