Edinburgh Alternative Finance

Edinburgh Alternative Finance Limited traded as LendingCrowd. Founded in 2014 by Stuart Lunn and based in Edinburgh, the firm operated a UK peer-to-peer (P2P) business lending platform targeting SMEs across Britain. It was directly authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under FRN 670991, with full authorisation granted in November 2016 — confirming direct authorisation rather than Appointed Representative status.

By mid-2026 the platform was reported to have facilitated over £600 million in loans and to have been accredited by the British Business Bank to participate in CBILS (July 2020) and RLS (February 2022). Multiple sources report the company announced an exit from the P2P market, applied to cancel its FCA authorisation, and entered administration on 18 June 2026; details regarding affected investors and recoverable loan value remain unverified pending administrator and Companies House notices.

LendingCrowd matched individual investors with SMEs seeking business loans. Per firm materials, typical borrower applications were for loans between £75,000 and £500,000, with terms from six months to five years and monthly capital and interest repayments. Loans were assessed by an internal credit team and allocated a Credit Band (A+ to C+) before being listed on the platform's Loan Market for investor bidding.

Historic process features included competitive investor bidding, no early repayment penalties for borrowers, and an internal credit underwriting workflow. In March 2020 LendingCrowd temporarily suspended new lending and parts of the Loan Market in response to COVID-19. The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) later considered a complaint about the suspension and a 1% withdrawal fee but did not uphold it, finding the firm's actions consistent with its interpretation of FCA requirements at the time.

So what? Loan size, term and repayment frequency drive exposure to individual borrower default risk and capital-return cadence. Suspension powers demonstrate that platforms can restrict new investment or secondary activity during stress — directly relevant to liquidity risk.

Core product: business loans (private debt) to SMEs — not retail consumer lending or property development finance — packaged as P2P/loan-based crowdfunding investments. Reported borrower loan amounts: £75,000–£500,000 over 6 months–5 years.

Fees: public material indicates borrower fees from approximately 2% (varying by term and credit band), with fees potentially added to the loan principal. An investor-facing 1% withdrawal fee was applied during restricted operations and was the subject of a (not upheld) FOS complaint. Precise investor-facing fee schedules should be checked against archived fee tables or administrator disclosures.

Tax wrappers and secondary market: the available research did not provide definitive evidence that LendingCrowd offered an IFISA wrapper or operated a continuous secondary market for sellers — both are unverified and require confirmation from historical product documentation.

So what? Withdrawal fees impede access to capital in stressed markets. Tax wrappers like the IFISA materially affect post-tax returns, and secondary-market availability dictates liquidity.

Target borrowers: limited companies and LLPs seeking business credit lines and term loans for growth, stock and working capital — excluding property development/investment lending.

Target investors: retail and individual investors seeking alternatives to bank deposits or gilts via SME private debt exposure. LendingCrowd's P2P products carried capital-at-risk and were not covered by the FSCS — a risk disclosure reflected in platform documentation and FOS material.

So what? SME loans typically carry higher default risk than secured consumer lending or government bonds. The absence of FSCS protection makes credit assessment and diversification critical.