Recent Release | 26 Mar 2021
Supporting SMEs through the crisis and recovery: Funding Circle’s 2020 impact
Economic Consulting Team
Oxford Economics
According to a new report by Oxford Economics, Funding Circle’s loans under management to SMEs at the end of last year made a total annual contribution of £10 billion to the UK and US. The lending supported 135,000 jobs and £2.8 billion in tax revenues.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) faced a challenging year in 2020. SMEs were impacted by restrictions and closures resulting from Covid-19. The significant support provided by government highlights their importance to the UK economy. With online borrowing increasing, Fintech lenders were well-placed to support SMEs with the finance they required throughout the year.
Funding Circle made a considerable contribution to the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, lending far and wide to businesses in 378 out of the UK’s 379 Local Authority Districts, contributing to the levelling up agenda.
About the team
Our Economic Consulting team are world leaders in quantitative economic analysis, working with clients around the globe and across sectors to build models, forecast markets and evaluate interventions using state-of-the art techniques. Lead consultants on this project included:
James Bedford
Lead Economist, Economic Footprint & Sustainability
James Bedford
Lead Economist, Economic Footprint & Sustainability
London, United Kingdom
James is a Lead Economist working within the Economic Footprint and Sustainability team of Oxford Economics. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Economics from Newcastle University. For his dissertation, James was awarded the European Award for Aviation Economics by the German Aviation Research Society. Since joining the team in 2016, James has worked on a range of high-profile economic impact studies for clients including the World Brewing Alliance, Airbus, and Sky.
Andy Logan
Director of Industry Consulting
Andy Logan
Director of Industry Consulting
London, United States
Andy Logan leads our Consultancy offer on different industries for clients. He undertakes studies forecasting the demand for company’s products, analysing the drivers of different industries growth, and assessing the size of different markets and industries. He also investigates the competitive pressures and opportunities facing industries now and in the future. Another area, where he has a keen interest is in studies assessing the demand and supply of labour for different industries and occupations, identifying potential skill shortages and implications for migration.
He has worked with clients in most industries, and in many countries of the world.
Prior to joining Oxford Economics, Andy worked in a variety of economist roles at the Bank of England for 15 years. His research focused on the labour market, commodity and producer prices, UK trade flows, and the performance of UK banks. He holds an MSc. and BA. degrees from the universities of London and Leicester.
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