Paragon’s Structured Lending business passes £100 million milestone with Go Car Credit deal

The Structured Lending team at specialist lender Paragon has passed its £100 million milestone, 18 months after being launched.

It comes as Paragon’s latest deal supports specialist car lender Go Car Credit with £12.5 million.

Go Car Credit, which launched in 2017, will use the money to support its strategy to increase new motor finance loans in the UK to the underserved and non-prime customer base and raise its presence online.

Every year, there are around 8.2 million used-vehicle transactions in the UK, of which 1.3 million are purchased using finance. An estimated 500,000 of these finance transactions, or 38%, are using some form of non-prime credit, according to Finance and Leasing Association and Experian data.

Lewis Fitzsimons, Senior Director in Structured Lending, said of the Go Car Credit deal:

“We are delighted to have signed our seventh deal with UK specialist car lender Go Car Credit, which is another example of how Paragon is using its expertise to support British businesses to grow and achieve their ambitions.”

Mark Giles, Chief Executive of Go Car Credit, said:

“Securing the new funding facility is an exciting development for Go Car Credit and reflects our commitment to implementing a sustainable customer and dealer centric model that embraces innovation in the industry.

“This is a testament to the hard work and determination of our team and business as a whole.”

Go Car Credit is the latest UK company that Paragon’s structured lending business area has supported. Committing over £110 million clients to date, this includes a fintech SME lender, a debt purchaser, property bridge financier and retail point of sale lenders.

Adam Daniels, Managing Director of Structured Lending, said:

“Committing our first £100 million to clients is an important landmark for the team and is a testament to the quality of my Structured Lending colleagues and the broader Paragon team. The strong client relationships we have developed are also key.

“We have supported a variety of sectors over the past 18 months and we will be adding some new sectors in the coming months. We are on track to meet our five-year plan and we have a strong pipeline of opportunities.”

Structured lending provides senior secured funding to help other UK-based, non-bank finance providers grow their lending activities. This helps consumers and SMEs gain access to funding from sources other than the traditional high street banks and, in turn, gets finance into the UK’s ‘real economy’.