Insight pumps £100m into ThinCats partnership to spur SME recovery

The Bank of England faces growing pressure to raise interest rates after inflation jumped to its highest level in nearly ten years in October.

Asset Management firm Insight Investment will pump £100m into a partnership with business lender ThinCats as they look to spur the economic recovery of SMEs amid difficult trading conditions.

Insight, whose managed funds are part of a panel of senior investors including Barclays and Citi, teamed up with ThinCats in 2018 and is now looking to channel further capital into UK SMEs to support post-pandemic growth while firms are battling inflationary pressure and rising costs.

Shaheer Guirguis, head of secured investment at Insight Investment said the £100m was vote of confidence in small business recovery.

“Insight has partnered with ThinCats for more than three years and seen it grow from strength to strength,” he said.

“During this time, and despite the substantial economic impact caused by the Covid pandemic, our investment capital has continued to provide valuable support to UK SMEs while delivering good risk-adjusted returns to our investors.”

ThinCats lends to business both off its own books and using funding from institutional investors, and the new injection from Insight takes its total available capital to £650m.

Ravi Anand, managing director at ThinCats said the new investment will provide support for mid-sized SMEs as they invest in post-pandemic growth.