Funding Options and Cooper Parry form strategic alliance to help SME growth

Funding Options, the leading marketplace for business finance, and fast-growing ‘rebels of accountancy’ Cooper Parry have joined forces to provide financial solutions for ambitious scale-ups and SMEs. 

Sharing a vision to make access to growth funding fast and as frictionless as possible, the strategic relationship will see Cooper Parry utilise Funding Options’ platform to source debt-based products for clients in need of working capital. 

Rooted in the Midlands and London but operating nationally with various regional hubs, mid-tier accounting firm Cooper Parry is seeking to build on its burgeoning reputation in the SME and scale-up community by removing bureaucracy and delay from securing vital funds. 

Funding Options has a roster of 100+ lenders and the ability to help businesses access lower-cost funding solutions fast - its record for application to approval is under three minutes. The partnership will see Funding Options become the marketplace of choice for Cooper Parry’s team when it comes to securing debt-based facilities.

In April this year, Cooper Parry launched a Technology & High Growth team in London following the arrival of Steve Leith, who spent 20 years at Grant Thornton leading their Fast Growth team. Sarah Abrahams, Head of Raising Finance, and Nick Hawkins, Associate Director, also made the switch to Cooper Parry, bringing a new fundraising offering to support clients and businesses through Seed and Series A funding rounds. 

Recently, Cooper Parry has been building its Early Stage team, focused on accounting and growth advisory. The firm also launched its ‘CP Futures’ proposition - a team working with early stage, scale-up and high growth businesses, helping them navigate finance, strategy, technology, fundraising, and culture challenges. 

Cooper Parry will utilise Funding Options’ proprietary technology, which uses a unique algorithm and open banking to match companies with suitable lending options. Businesses will be able to access small business-friendly loans that meet their needs from a variety of alternative and mainstream lenders offering products such as revolving credit facilities, merchant cash advance, invoice discounting and asset finance.

Simon Cureton, CEO of Funding Options, said: “Cooper Parry has demonstrated with its recent talent acquisition and expansion that it shares the level of ambition we have at Funding Options, together with a deep desire to support SMEs in a difficult climate. Businesses and accounting firms using our marketplace do so because of the level of choice we can offer, as well as the speed with which we can facilitate loans.”

Steve Leith, Partner, CP Futures, Scale Up & High Growth at Cooper Parry, said: “A core part of our strategy is playing a key role in connecting the ecosystem of partners that support early stage, scale-up and high growth companies. Much time is wasted by companies in the growth phase assessing where to get support and understanding who will deliver the best value right across their growth agenda. The partnership with Funding Options was a no-brainer for us, giving the CP Futures team the ability to connect companies to debt finance quickly and efficiently through the UK’s leading funding marketplace.”

Sarah Abrahams, Director, CP Futures, Raising Finance at Cooper Parry, added: “As an advisor to ambitious businesses on funding strategy, it is important that we provide all the tools and support around accessing finance on the right terms to fuel our clients’ growth. Partnering with Funding Options helps us to span our advice across seed to growth capital deals, pairing our unrivalled expertise in the equity market with Funding Options’ unique access to debt facilities. It’s great to be working with a like-minded team that shares our passion at CP Futures for helping growing businesses to scale.” 

ENDS

About Funding Options:

Funding Options is the leading marketplace for business finance, helping businesses across the UK and Netherlands find the right funding for their situation. With over 200 lender partners, Funding Options is delivering hundreds of millions of pounds in vital finance to thousands of businesses every year. Whether you’re looking to grow, finance new assets or pay off a tax bill - its award-winning technology searches the market to find the right funding options for your situation. It takes minutes, there’s no obligation, and it’s easy to use. A dedicated team of experienced Business Finance Specialists are there to take out the legwork, ensuring that you can focus on what matters most - running your business. 

Funding Options is a two-time winner of Nesta’s Open Up Challenge for Open Banking and has been designated by HM Treasury for the bank referral scheme, to help UK SMEs find alternative finance when they're unsuccessful with the major banks.

For more information, please get in touch with: press@fundingoptions.com

About Cooper Parry

Cooper Parry is one of the fastest growing firms of accountants and business advisors in the UK. Its team of proven specialist talent operates from hubs across the UK, together with its international community of like-minded firms, CP Global. It works with entrepreneurial businesses and offers Audit, Tax, R&D, Wealth Management, Corporate Finance and IT Solutions services.

Cooper Parry’s CP Futures team looks after early stage, scale-up and high growth businesses by working with Founders, CFOs and Boards to support their agenda across finance, strategy, technology, fundraising and culture.

For more information, please get in touch with:

Melanie Campbell - Head of Marketing at Cooper Parry -

melaniec@cooperparry.com