What makes Rivers different as a lender?

Money lending is one of the most ancient businesses in the world, with its roots traced to around 2000 BC in Assyria. In London itself money lending has been an essential part of local and regional economies for centuries, with Cambridge University Press saying that between 1300 and 1600 alone: "The region lying within a radius of about twenty miles from London formed one of the most thoroughly commercialised parts of the country".  

While some of the mechanisms, options and opportunities around borrowing money have changed, the basic principles remain the same, particularly when it comes to business loans. Lending itself may be a tale as old as time, but lenders can be markedly different from one another, particularly when it comes to the relationships they foster with their clients.  

This is where Rivers has very much set itself apart as a lender with an entrepreneurial perspective, appreciating the mindset, the experiences, the challenges and the opportunities that businesses face, especially in the SME sector.

Loans from business leaders to business leaders

For context, we ourselves are an independently owned business, that began as a challenger in the market - you might even have called us an underdog once upon a time. Our team is made up of those from a range of different backgrounds, from a combination of traditional financial backgrounds as well as other B2C markets.  

By having this combination of skills within our midst, we have been able to ensure high standards of due diligence alongside innovative thinking. This has not only led to a carefully developed range of financial products designed specifically to support businesses, but also a commercial, flexible outlook and approach to support businesses across almost all sectors.  Rather than simply explaining that we think differently, however, we thought it best to showcase some of our most recent deals and how they have supported businesses, their cash flow and their growth.

Financing a new event business set to be the 'Crufts of cats' 

• Amount funded: £60,000 over four business loans. 
• Term: Two loans over 18 months each and two loans over three months each. 
• Purpose: Working capital loan. 
• Industry: Events. 

We are always delighted to support new businesses with vision, and the founders of The Cat Show Live have that in abundance. An industry disrupter taking the pet sector by storm this year, the team is highly experienced and knowledgeable and have set out to create a world-leading non-competitive cat show celebrating its inaugural event this month. 

Presented by former Olympic medallist, Iwan Thomas MBE and powered by Vetz Petz [Antinol®], the inaugural event takes place at the NEC, Birmingham on 14th of September 2024 with the wonderful people from The Big Cat Sanctuary in attendance amongst others. It is hailed as the 'Crufts of cats', underpinned by compassion, education and an opportunity to meet pedigree cats and world-renowned judges at their dedicated 'Cat Village'.  

With an inspired idea that was already well underway, the team came to Rivers seeking business finance to contribute to the set up of the exhibition, purchasing key equipment and investing in event advertising. We're delighted to see their progress to date and look forward to even more from this inspired organisation.  

Founder of The Cat Show Live, Sam Marsh, says: "The wide range of products offered by Rivers allowed us to explore working with them as a viable alternative to traditional high street lenders. We can't thank them enough for helping turn our business vision into reality." 

A business loan to help a high street salon grow to the next level

• Amount funded: £73,575. 
• Term: Five years.  
• Purpose: Salon equipment. 
• Industry: Beauty.  

Those who have known Rivers since its early days will know that the spa and salon sector has always been important to us as an organisation. We know it well and have had a strong reputation for supporting the industry through asset finance and business loans for many years.   

When this client came to us, they were looking to purchase £81,750 of salon equipment, for which we financed £73,575 over a five-year term. They own a profitable business and wanted to borrow the funds to buy two new pieces of equipment that would help them grow further.  

While they had the financial resources to fund the purchase themselves, they preferred to borrow it as part of a sensible and measured approach to cash flow, which is a mindset we very much support.

Borrowing money from Rivers 

At Rivers we are in the business of lending money to other SME businesses, and we always want to find a way to do that sensibly, for the benefit of all involved. Naturally, we have to make sure that the numbers add up and that we do our due diligence, but we also recognise that businesses are run by people and there's more than an algorithm to consider, in order to make things work. Our loans are all overseen by experienced human underwriters and business finance professionals, and crucially, we believe that when our clients succeed, we all succeed.  

Find more about a business loan or asset finance with Rivers