Funding Circle : TEAms up with SME customer, Bird & Blend Tea Co.

• Offering a unique range of tea blends to its 600+ UK employees
• Adding to a range of company initiatives to support small and further champion SMEs

Funding Circle, the UK's largest small business loan platform, is proud to continue supporting small and has recently stocked a unique selection of tea blends expertly created by award-winning tea company and Funding Circle customer, Bird & Blend Tea Co., for its London office.

Bird & Blend accessed finance through Funding Circle during the Coronavirus pandemic when it closed its 11 UK stores and shifted its business online. After a quick pivot to meet the increasing demand the business faced, Bird & Blend have reopened their stores and successfully added four new locations, as well as increasing its staff by 60 (to a total of 139 employees today) and recently raised over £1m through crowdfunding from around 2k investors.

"It's great to have Bird & Blend's selection of teas in the office and our Circlers are definitely sharing the passion for the new and unusual flavours created by its tea mixologists. Bird & Blend is a brilliant example of a Funding Circle customer that successfully adapted and pivoted during the pandemic and we are excited to see what they do next. Funding Circle is a proud champion of SMEs in every sense and we are on a mission to support small businesses in every corner of the UK as they drive the UK's economic growth."

Alexander Allen

UK Managing Director, Funding Circle

"Bird & Blend is a Tea Mixology company on a mission to spread happiness and reimagine tea, so we are thrilled to have some of our fan favourite blends available to Circlers in the London office. Funding Circle was a great help to us during the pandemic and enabled us to continue to surprise and delight our customers with amazing cuppas so we are pleased to be able to provide them with awesome tea!"

Mike Turner

Co-Founder, Bird & Blend

Bird & Blend offers a range of carefully crafted tea blends including Sunny Sencha (green tea), Strawberry Lemonade (red berry) and the Great British Cuppa (English breakfast). They are available to Funding Circle's 600+ UK employees, known as Circlers, to taste and enjoy when working from its London office.

Additionally, Funding Circle is always looking at ways to support small at its company events and socials. To celebrate International Women's Day in March, Funding Circle sourced the drinks for its company-wide event from its female-led small business customers, including The Pretty Decent Beer Co, Fell Brewery and In the Welsh Wind Distillery, as well as non-alcoholic drinks from Square Root Soda.

ENDS

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About Funding Circle

Funding Circle is the UK's largest loan platform for SMEs. Founded in 2010, its market-leading and unparalleled instant decision lending technology enables small businesses to apply for finance in an average of six minutes, with lending decisions in as little as nine seconds. A wide range of investors are utilising this technology and distribution platform to lend c. £14 billion to approximately 120,000 businesses globally. This is providing small businesses with the fast and simple access finance they need to grow and power the economy. In 2021, lending through Funding Circle's UK platform is estimated to have contributed £7.2bn to GDP and supported 100,000 jobs.