about acorn finance
Your funding partner since 1997
Multi award winning Acorn finance are dedicated to bringing the best funding options to your business or property enterprise.
Acorn.finance is all about getting the right funding for your needs.
Formed in 1997 our mission is that every business owner, property investor or homeowner gets the right funding solution.
To achieve this you ca access a lending panel of more than 400 funders, almost every lender in the market.
Do you want to move your business or property investments forward? Let Acorn.finance get you FUNDED!
Why did we form Acorn Commercial Finance?
Back in 1997 father and son team Tom and Paul Thompson identified a gap in the business finance market and formed Acorn Commercial Finance.
Small business owners and property investors were unable to get the funding they needed by accessing the high street banks. The alternative funders were too hard for them to find, being busy running their businesses.
The big banks (NatWest, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Bank of Scotland and Royal Bank of Scotland) dominated the funding market. Most business owners did not know about the wider market.
For business owners, this wasn’t great as bank managers would only suggest what their bank, not another lender could offer. That meant business owners were not getting the “best advice”, just some advice.
That would have been fine if all banks operated the same, but they didn’t then and they still don’t.
In the ’90s many of us had loyalty to our banks. The bank we started out with was still our bank! So then, when we set up businesses or started investing in property, if that wasn’t “the bank’s” target sector, then too bad.
Business owners were coming to us to get a better deal, the big banks just didn’t seem to care!
So – Acorn.finance (or Acorn Commercial Finance in those days) was born.
We worked with the businesses getting the worst deal from their banks. Businesses like pubs, hotels, post offices, bakeries, fish and chip shops, care homes and garages. By working with the toughest sectors, we had the biggest possible impact. In that way we built a strong reputation amongst business owners. This has led to us winning seven UK Best Broker Awards!
Acorn finance – About an award winning finance broker.
In 2013 we entered our first awards – the Business Moneyfacts Awards. That year we walked away with the Commercial Mortgage Broker of the Year Award. (See below, me meeting Matt Dawson MBE – England Rugby Player!). Since then we’ve won a further 6 best UK broker awards from a variety of publications.
Tom retired from Acorn finance back in 2016 leaving Paul at the helm. We’re now growing the business again through franchises across the length and breadth of the UK.
To move your business forward we need a small number of individuals for our September intake of commercial brokers. So to be considered, contact us now.
Paul Thompson – Acorn.finance founder
Paul came into the finance world from an unusual direction. He previously served as a Sea King Helicopter pilot in the Royal Navy.
Not being the typical ex-banker turned finance broker has been a strength for Paul. The analytical thinking required as a pilot is invaluable when dealing with funding transactions.
Paul spent 5 years on the board of directors for the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers, helping to steer the industry in a positive direction and being responsible for Training and Education for the association.
Now the kids have left home Paul lives by the coast in the North East with his wife Kate and their two puppies Bimba & Lola. They love walks by the sea (and dips in it!).