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Richard Taylor wanted to buy his local franchise, and needed to secure funding to make it happen.

He chose to raise funds with rebuildingsociety.com, enabling him to buy the Preston franchise of Martin and Co. property agents. After a successful stint as the franchise owner, Richard set up shop as an independent agent, refinancing the original loan to fund this transition. Taylors Estates, based in Preston, now covers most of Lancashire.

Richard, can you tell us why you chose peer-to-peer lending?

The reason I chose peer-to-peer lending to fund the business purchase that I was making at the time was that I had looked at the more traditional routes: the banks and funders that were aware of the Martin and Co. franchise I was buying, and unfortunately I wasn't able to secure funding through them. So, the broker that I was working with at the time suggested that I look at peer-to-peer lending as an option. That's how I got introduced to rebuildingsociety.com and was able to go through the process with them and raise the funds that I needed.

What made you choose rebuildingsociety.com?

I chose rebuildingsociety.com to raise the funds I needed, because when I had the initial conversations with them, they seemed very keen to help. They seemed to understand the predicament that I was in and the struggles that I was having with the more traditional funding. They looked very positively at the business plan that I had, and were quite encouraging about what it was that I was planning to do. That gave me the confidence to then use their platform to raise the funds.

"I would recommend peer-to-peer lending and I would definitely recommend rebuildingsociety.com. They remain in contact with you, which is great. They are interested in the business." - Richard Taylor

How did you find the process?

The process of borrowing with rebuildingsociety.com was actually fairly straightforward. The paperwork was nice and easy to understand, the online portal, the opportunity to answer questions from the lenders I found really helpful because it gave them the confidence to then lend to me, and it also raised a few things that I perhaps hadn't thought about. And so I was able to go away and then get the answers for them, and that helped me in the process of buying the business and finding out some information that I perhaps hadn't thought about from the sellers. So it was actually a really good process, very smooth from start to finish. Plenty of help from rebuildingsociey.com themselves. A simple process.

What did you think of the customer service?

The support received from rebuildingsociety.com throughout the whole process was great. I could pick up the phone and somebody would answer, and that's all you really want when you're working with somebody. You want them to answer the phone, and allay any fears that you've got, and also to answer any questions that you've got. And that's what they did, so can't fault it.

No, there weren't any issues throughout the whole thing. Everything was done at the time they said it would be done. The form was easy to fill in, and easy to submit, and the funds were in my account when they said they'd be in my account. Can't fault it.

"I wouldn't be where I am now without rebuildingsociety.com" - Richard Taylor

Top tips for SMEs?

Consider this sort of funding. Banks are very prescriptive in terms of what they will and won't lend against, and don't always look at the individual, the business plans... Whereas with peer-to-peer funding, there are so many variables they will look at. These are real people that are putting the money in, and so they look beyond the normal criteria and therefore where you think you might not get funding, this is a very useful route.

Did you get any feedback from the lenders?

There was one investor particularly who put quite a large amount into the original loan, and he asked some very good questions throughout the application process, and he also contacted me post application of the loan to see how things were going, ask questions about the growth of the business. It's nice to have that level of involvement. It's nice to get that kind of lender input.

Thanks so much for speaking with us, Richard. We wish you all the best with Taylors Estates.

Find out Richard's top tips for property investment over on our blog.