Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the lifeblood of the UK financial system, accounting for over 99% of all companies and using greater than 16 million individuals. But for years, entry to finance has remained one of many sector’s greatest obstacles—particularly in a post-pandemic, high-interest charge atmosphere.
Now, one neighborhood lender primarily based in Wolverhampton is demonstrating how the tide could also be turning. BCRS Enterprise Loans, a not-for-profit finance supplier, has reduce SME mortgage processing instances by an astonishing 80% after embracing a brand new wave of back-office know-how.
The transformation comes at a vital second. Many SMEs are nonetheless grappling with money movement points, delayed funds, and rising working prices. Conventional banks have tightened their lending standards, with hundreds of smaller companies reporting issue accessing credit score. On this context, the pace and effectivity of other lenders like BCRS are extra important than ever.
A radical rethink of the lending course of
BCRS Enterprise Loans isn’t any stranger to innovation. The lender was established to serve underserved companies that fall outdoors the danger urge for food of mainstream banks. Traditionally, BCRS has supplied loans of as much as £150,000 to companies throughout the West Midlands and surrounding areas.
Nevertheless, like many legacy lenders, BCRS discovered itself constrained by gradual inside methods and guide processes that added pointless friction to the borrower expertise. A typical enterprise mortgage might take a number of weeks to course of—a time delay that would spell hassle for a corporation needing pressing funding.
That modified when BCRS partnered with fintech platform Kennek, which supplies an end-to-end lending working system. With Kennek’s know-how, BCRS streamlined and automatic a lot of its back-office perform, from preliminary borrower onboarding and threat profiling to documentation and compliance checks.
The end result? Mortgage turnaround instances have dropped by four-fifths. What as soon as took weeks can now be achieved in days, with debtors receiving choices and disbursements quicker and with fewer complications.
Velocity issues: why effectivity is now a aggressive edge
In at this time’s enterprise panorama, pace will not be a luxurious—it’s a aggressive necessity. SMEs ceaselessly want funding to capitalise on progress alternatives, handle short-term money crunches, or put money into tools and expertise. When entry to that capital is delayed by weeks, it may possibly imply missed alternatives and even enterprise failure.
Sooner processing additionally improves the lender’s efficiency. By accelerating mortgage choices, BCRS can flip over capital extra effectively, serve extra purchasers, and improve total portfolio efficiency.
“Every day counts for our borrowers,” mentioned Stephen Deakin, CEO of BCRS Enterprise Loans. “By removing bottlenecks and automating key parts of our process, we’re not only providing a better customer experience—we’re making our entire operation more robust and responsive.”
The broader implications for SME finance within the UK
Whereas BCRS could also be a regional lender, the implications of its back-office transformation are nationwide. The UK at the moment faces a persistent SME funding hole estimated at over £22 billion, as famous by the British Enterprise Financial institution. Many of those unmet financing wants aren’t as a result of creditworthiness, however somewhat inefficiencies and threat aversion within the lending system.
Digital transformation—notably within the again workplace—affords a reputable path ahead. By utilizing platforms like Kennek, lenders of all sizes can transfer quicker, scale back working prices, and scale with out compromising on due diligence or regulatory compliance.
Furthermore, fintech innovation on this house isn’t restricted to quicker processing instances. It additionally consists of higher threat modelling, data-driven choice making, and integration with Open Banking knowledge to enhance monetary insights—all of which assist guarantee accountable lending.
What this implies for debtors
For the small enterprise proprietor, this shift is vastly welcome. Many SMEs report feeling marginalised or pissed off when searching for finance from excessive road banks, particularly for loans below £250,000. Determination-making can really feel opaque, impersonal, and out of sync with the wants of fast-moving companies.
Neighborhood lenders and regional progress finance our bodies like BCRS play an important position in bridging that hole. However to take action successfully and at scale, they need to undertake the identical degree of digital sophistication because the fintech giants—whereas sustaining the native information and hands-on assist that make them helpful within the first place.
As BCRS has proven, marrying neighborhood ethos with cutting-edge tech isn’t simply doable—it’s transformational.
The following chapter for SME finance
The success of BCRS’s back-office reform sends a robust sign to different lenders throughout the UK. Streamlining inside methods isn’t a “nice to have”—it’s mission important. As the federal government pushes ahead with its SME finance evaluate in 2025 and prepares a brand new industrial technique, modernising the infrastructure behind enterprise lending should stay entrance and centre.
Whether or not by way of partnerships with fintechs, inside digital overhauls, or new market entrants, the purpose is obvious: UK SMEs deserve quicker, fairer, and extra accessible finance.
