Lenders White Oak UK and Spotcap have partnered to offer a wider range of external SME finance to small businesses.

White Oak UK’s offering includes asset finance, commercial mortgages and business finance, while Spotcap offers loans of up to £250,000 to businesses, priding itself on one working day decisions. To date, Spotcap has lent over €250m worldwide while White Oak UK has arranged over £2 billion of funding for SMEs.

Keen to expand their offering, White Oak and Spotcap will now work on a referral basis when being contacted by businesses directly. That way, both lenders hope to support a larger number of companies with a wider range of needs.

Although awareness of alternatives to traditional finance has continued to grow, according to British Business Bank, fewer companies are willing to use it. Just 36pc of smaller businesses now use external SME finance compared to 44pc in 2012 and over 7 in 10 firms say they would rather forgo growth than take on external finance.

The Spotcap/White Oak UK teamup has already benefited one medical equipment wholesaler in Oxfordshire: the company contacted White Oak Uk for a business loan to manage its cash flow. As the wholesaler did not want to provide any debentures or guarantees, White Oak UK made a referral to Spotcap. The unsecured lender provided a £50,000 loan for 12 months with no personal guarantee required.

Kevin Vendel, head of sales at Spotcap, said: “UK businesses need access to the right funding to thrive. But with so many different solutions out there, that can be challenging. If one lender doesn’t have the right solution, why not establish a partnership with another one to compliment the offering?”

Chris Heeley, credit director at White Oak UK said: “As the relationship with Spotcap progresses, I’m certain that we will continue to work together to maximise the opportunities and facilities available to further build on the foundations we have already laid in respect of supporting UK SMEs.”

White Oak UK appoints new CEO

Meanwhile, White Oak UK has appointed Carl D’Ammassa as its new CEO following managing director Peter Alderson retiring. D’Ammassa joins from Aldermore Bank, where he was group managing director of the bank’s business finance division. Before that, he was managing director of Hitachi Capital Business Finance.