What Aston Reinvestment Trust does

Aston Reinvestment Trust (trading as ART Business Loans) is a Community Development Finance Institution established in 1997 in Aston, Birmingham, following a recommendation of the Aston Commission led by Sir Adrian Cadbury. Operating as ART SHARE Limited, a Community Benefit Society authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA register 723068), ART is a pioneer UK CDFI whose stated mission is to ensure viable businesses and social enterprises in the West Midlands and adjoining counties can access finance they cannot obtain from mainstream banks.

ART's core product is an unsecured business loan ranging from £10,000 to £250,000 over terms of six months to seven years, priced at 13.25% variable annual interest with a 5% arrangement fee and a representative 16.6% APR. The portfolio is supplemented by government-backed schemes delivered as a British Business Bank partner, including the Growth Guarantee Scheme, the Recovery Loan Scheme, the now-closed CBILS, and the Community ENABLE Fund, as well as the Birmingham Small Business Loan Fund co-supported with Birmingham City Council and Unity Trust Bank. Underwriting is conducted manually by four lending managers and the CEO, with no proprietary digital lending platform described.

The business generates revenue principally through interest on its loan book and arrangement fees, distributing its products through over 95% broker and introducer referrals (paid a 2% commission) supplemented by direct application via the website. Since 1997, ART has lent over £37 million to more than 1,800 borrowers, creating or protecting more than 8,500 jobs, and is owned mutually by its borrower and investor members, including corporate and individual investors such as Barclays, IMI, Jaguar, NatWest, Severn Trent, Wesleyan, members of the Cadbury family, and Lord Digby Jones.

Name

Aston Reinvestment Trust

Legal name

ART SHARE (Social Help Association for Reinvesting in Enterprise) Limited

Website

https://artbusinessloans.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ART Business Loans is an FCA-regulated Community Development Finance Institution founded in 1997 in Birmingham, providing £10k-£250k business loans to SMEs and social enterprises in the West Midlands and adjoining counties that are unable to access finance from mainstream banks.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

SME Lending / Community Development Finance

NAICS

Sales Financing (52222)

SIC

Miscellaneous Business Credit Institution (6159), Short-Term Business Credit Institutions (6153)

akta.pro primary industry

Impact Investing & Social Finance (Funds, CDFIs, Microfinance) (BPAGALAA)

Keywords

• Community development finance
• Small business lending
• Sme loan funding
• West midlands cdfi
• Alternative business finance

Headquarters

HQ city

Birmingham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Business Loan Interest: ART generates revenue from interest charged on business loans extended to SMEs. Representative example shows 13.25% p.a. variable rate and 16.6% APR. Arrangement fee of 5% of loan value drawn. Loans range from £10,000 to £250,000, with terms from 6 months to 7 years and no penalty for early repayment. This is the primary revenue stream.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

ART (Aston Reinvestment Trust), trading as ART Business Loans, is a Community Development Finance Institution (CDFI) that provides business loans ranging from £10,000 to £250,000 to small and medium enterprises and social enterprises in the West Midlands and adjoining counties that are unable to access finance from mainstream banks. Loans are issued for any business purpose including working capital, asset purchase, expansion, and acquisitions, with terms from six months to seven years, a representative 13.25% p.a. variable interest rate, and 5% arrangement fee. The organisation operates a personal, relationship-based lending model delivered by dedicated lending managers.

Product overview

ART Business Loans operates as a Community Development Finance Institution (CDFI) providing a portfolio of business loan products targeting SMEs in the West Midlands and adjoining counties that are unable to access full financing from mainstream lenders. The core offering consists of the ART Business Loan (£10,000-£250,000) supplemented by government-backed schemes including the Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS), Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS), and the now-closed Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). Additional specialized funding includes the Birmingham Small Business Loan Fund (supported by Birmingham City Council and Unity Trust Bank) and participation in the Community ENABLE Funding Programme through the British Business Bank. The organization also facilitates Community Investment Tax Relief (CITR) for eligible investors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ART Business Loan
• Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS)

Quantifiable outcome

• Over £37 million lent to more than 1,800 borrowers creating or protecting over 8,500 jobs since 1997
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered notable and major.

• BCRS Business LoansnotableStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Wolverhampton-based CDFI that co-funded a six-figure deal with ART for Total Metal Recovery's acquisition of A-Z Skips. Both community lenders working together on deals above £250k where individual CDFIs may not have capacity alone.
• Midlands SME Finance CollaborationnotableStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025A groundbreaking collaboration of Midlands funders launched at a Birmingham expo to raise awareness of finance options available to small and medium enterprises. ART participates alongside five other regional partners.
• Responsible Finance (formerly Community Development Finance Association)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerART's trade association through which Regional Growth Fund is channelled. Responsible Finance represents CDFIs across the UK. ART is described as a member and participant in the CDFI ecosystem promoted by Responsible Finance.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• BCRS Business Loans: Wolverhampton-based CDFI providing business loans to SMEs in the West Midlands and surrounding regions. Already named as a co-lending partner in ART's deal flow (Total Metal Recovery case study), BCRS operates a near-identical model targeting the same underserved SME segment and even co-funds deals above £250k with ART.
• Charity Bank: UK ethical bank lending exclusively to charities and social enterprises. Like ART, it is an FCA-regulated, mission-driven lender focused on underserved segments of the UK economy that mainstream banks underserve, with deposits funded by savers seeking social impact.
• Big Issue Invest: Social investment arm of The Big Issue providing loans and investment to social enterprises and mission-led businesses across the UK. Operates in the same CDFI/responsible finance space with a comparable focus on underserved borrowers excluded by mainstream lenders.
• SWIG Finance: South West-focused CDFI providing business loans to SMEs unable to access mainstream finance. Functions as the regional analogue to ART, with identical products (small business loans, government-backed scheme delivery) and a near-identical CDFI operating model, just serving different UK geography.
• Business Enterprise Fund (BEF): North of England-based CDFI providing business loans and support to underserved SMEs. Comparable regional CDFI peer delivering the same product mix (start-up loans, growth loans, government scheme delivery) to bank-refused borrowers in its geography.

Broad incumbents

• Unity Trust Bank: UK ethical bank providing business banking, lending, and treasury services to mission-led organizations and SMEs. A named capital partner and 'our bankers' for ART, Unity operates a broader portfolio (current accounts, savings, larger commercial loans) but shares the same social impact mandate and serves overlapping customer segments.
• Triodos Bank UK: UK arm of the European ethical bank offering current accounts, savings, and business lending to sustainable organizations. A broader incumbent in the responsible finance space, serving many of the same social enterprises and mission-led SMEs as ART but with a wider product set and pan-European parent backing.
• Funding Circle: UK-listed online platform providing business loans to SMEs, including segments that high-street banks decline. Competes for similar end-borrowers as ART but operates a tech-driven marketplace model with significantly larger scale and broader geographic reach, making it an incumbent rather than direct peer.

Emerging players

• iwoca: UK fintech providing flexible working capital loans (typically £1k-£250k) to small businesses. Increasingly overlaps with ART's £10k-£250k ticket range using fast digital underwriting, making it an emerging digital-native threat to ART's traditional CDFI model in the bank-refused SME segment.

Others

• British Business Bank: UK government-backed economic development bank that operates the guarantee schemes (GGS, RLS, CEF) that ART delivers as an accredited partner. Not a competitor but a critical ecosystem enabler and capital provider whose programme design directly shapes ART's lending capacity and product mix.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ART_BizLoans
• Facebookfacebook.com/ARTBizLoans
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/art-business-loans

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Aston Reinvestment Trust