Unbolted defends the viability of the pawnbroking P2P model

Unbolted has defended the viability of the pawnbroking peer-to-peer lending model following Connective Lending announcing its wind-down.

After launching in February last year, Connective Lending announced yesterday (9 February) that it was leaving the P2P market following a review of the viability of operating a P2P model within the pawnbroking sector.

This means that Unbolted is now the only remaining P2P pawnbroking platform which is open to retail investors.

Chris Brown, head of lending and operations of Unbolted, said that the market for P2P is still strong.

Read more: Is P2P pawnbroking coming back into fashion?

“We feel that the market for P2P remains strong within a pawnbroking model,” he said.

“We concentrate on the best, most liquid assets, for example, gold, fine watches and modern art. We manage our borrower clients well and put great effort into obtaining accurate and sustainable asset valuations.

“Physically holding the assets enables our relatively low default rate and 100 per cent plus recovery record. Reassured by this we have built a loyal lender base and continue to attract new lenders month-on-month as we grow the book.”

Unbolted offers affordable luxury asset financing to small and medium sized businesses and consumers and as of 9 February the platform has repaid or renewed 5,126 loans with a cumulative loan amount of £35.1m.