Newsletter - A Year in Review

Newsletter - A Year in Review

A Year in Review

January 2018/ John Davies

We are rapidly approaching the first anniversary of the launch of the Association of Alternative Business Finance (AABF) with the major ambition of championing and promoting the best standards of industry practice.


As Chairman of the Association I stated to the media, "A vibrant and diverse alternative lending sector has successfully established itself in the UK and we feel the time is right to give it a voice and promote best standards of industry practice."


Read more about the launch here


The year has flown by and I am proud that the Association has been successfully established. Just weeks after our launch a leading trade publication listed specialist finance sector associations that were 'looking to uphold standards, raise the profile of the industry and help consult on regulatory changes'. We were included and found ourselves rubbing shoulders in the list with the well established FLA, NACFB, Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Peer to Peer Finance Association.


Read more here



We have been approached on a wide range of industry topics/issues and you will see our responses and media coverage in the article that follows this one.



We have also been busy establishing our credentials with leading governmental and industry figures. Extremely positive meetings have been held in Westminster with Julian Knight MP, Chair of the All-Party Group on Alternative Lending and Lord Cromwell, Vice Chair of the All Party Working Group for Fair Business Banking. We have also developed a good working relationship with David Pickering, CEO of the Lending Standards Board.



These individuals are in key positions to shape the rules and regulations impacting alternative lending in the future. They now clearly know what our Association stands for, who our members are and are keen to have our input in the future. 


I am also pleased that we have welcomed five new members during the year and I am confident that our membership base will continue to grow in 2018. One of our key initiatives, that will attract new members,  is the development of a Personal Guarantee Database to address the 'stacking issue' and we are on course for going live with this in Q2 this year.


In summary, a year where we have successfully established ourselves and I hope this newsletter gives existing and potential members a good flavour of how we have been establishing our credentials.


Regards


John Davies


Chairman