Repayable Finance in the Arts and Cultural Sector

Key findings

• £29m worth of repayable finance was reportedly received by survey respondents in 2016
• £309m of repayable finance is expected to be sought over the next five years (£62m per year on average)
• 41 per cent of organisations considering taking out repayable finance in the next five years would take out less than £150,000
• 54 per cent of this future demand is expected to come from outside London
• 64 per cent of organisations that have previously sought or taken out repayable finance say that it is a good tool to support their activities.

This research was undertaken by market research agency MTM London into the current and future demand for repayable finance in the UK’s arts and cultural sector. It was commissioned by Arts & Culture Finance – then a division of Nesta – in 2018, with a view to developing further impact investment solutions for the UK’s arts and cultural sector, building on the work of the Arts Impact Fund.

We were interested in exploring the full range of financial products that arts and cultural organisations could be interested in, so we used the term ‘repayable finance’ throughout – encompassing secured and unsecured loans, overdrafts, blended grant-loan products, equity and other performance-related debt. Over 1,000 organisations from across the country took part, 70 per cent of which were asset-locked entities such as charities and community interest companies.

Author: MTM London