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P2P lending is becoming a significant alternative source of financing for SMEs in the UK. According to Entrenching Innovation - The 4th UK alternative Finance Industry Report, published in December 2017, P2P business lending grew from £21m in 2011 to £1.23bn in 2016, generating £3.14bn over the six years. The report noted that the annual growth rate in volume from 2015 to 2016 was 40%. The report cited data from the British Banking Association that revealed P2P business lending equated to 15% of new small businesses loans. More than a fifth of borrowers had a turnover of less than £500,000 and 23% were in the £500,000 to £1m turnover bracket. It also found that lenders were biased towards localised funding. This diversity of lending across the UK suggested that P2P business lending could become “a suitable solution to systemic geographic biases that exist in traditional and bank SME lending”. Figures from the Peer-to-Peer Finance Association (P2PFA), published earlier this year, reinforce that view, with cumulative lending by ...