17 October 2025: Jess Jones’ new article in The Times newspaper covers the growing trend of businesses with expensive, short-term loans approaching community development finance institutions, our members, to refinance them on better terms.
The piece quotes Responsible Finance CEO, Theodora Hadjimichael, plus Danielle Davis, deputy director at First Enterprise and Steve Waud, CEO of the Business Enterprise Fund (BEF). First Enterprise and BEF are community development finance institutions and members of Responsible Finance.
It describes our and CDFIs’ concerns based on what we have observed in many applications about some alternative lenders’ lack of affordability checks and lack of transparency.
And it includes an example from Davis of a small business which was repaying nearly £80,000 a month to lenders – which, if refinanced through First Enterprise, would be about £75,000 a month cheaper. Steve Waud also highlights a business which applied to BEF which had been paying monthly interest of £28,000 on a £100,000 loan from multiple other lenders.
The article points out that CDFIs are able to successfully provide finance to many viable small businesses which cannot access finance from mainstream providers; that CDFIs can often consolidate expensive, short-term loans into a longer-term loan with lower repayments and can offer further working capital; and that.firms which borrow from CDFIs have a good repayment record. It also mentions for the Community Enable Funding programme, previously covered in The Times, which seeks to increase annual business lending by CDFIs.
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Read the Times article here (Times subscription required)
What next?
- More on this topic: read our recent blog post about “the high cost loan scandal no-one is talking about” (they are now!) and listen to this forthright interview with Steve Waud.
- Media / journalists: Responsible Finance, our members and clients have featured in TV, radio, national and regional newspapers, magazines, online and in podcasts.
- Want to speak to a thriving business, excluded from bank finance but supported by a CDFI? We can help.
- We can offer interviews, comment and case studies about access to finance / affordable credit / financial inclusion / debt, relating to businesses, social enterprises and people. Please contact [email protected] // 07904 272 200 to request interviews and case studies.