BUSINESS FINANCE & BANKING
James Gibbons and Conor Devine
indigenous private companies investing in NI and to attract more FDI as opposed to our more successful companies deciding to invest in the Republic of Ireland. One way me might be able to stop this trend developing further is to make sure we can guarantee the business community certainty and some form of continuity, and that has to start with having a working Executive at Stormont.” With his business Clearpath Finance, Conor says the market is opening up when it comes to lending, with companies utilising alternative sources. “We know that the UK’s alternative finance
OCTOBER 2019
sector continues to grow at break-neck pace, with the total value of the alternative finance market in the UK coming in at £6.2bn at year end 2017, according to data compiled by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance,” he says. “It is believed that the market has continued to grow given the number of new entrants including technology banks and platforms over the last 24 months. “A perfect example of this is when we started our own business in 2016, we had one alternative lender on our books, and the concern I had at that time, was really how successful I would be in persuading other
lenders to follow suit and invest in the NI economy through local SMEs. “Fast forward three years and we now have more than 50 different lenders on our own books at our headquarters in Belfast. This is obviously very good news for our local economy and continues to provide our local businesses with the liquidity they need to grow their businesses.” ■ Conor Devine MRICS, is a founding partner of GDP Partnership which owns GDP Equity Experts and alternative lending platform Clearpath Finance, based in Belfast, Dublin and Manchester. For more information visit www.gdpequityexperts.co.uk and www. clearpathfinance.com
35