Commenting on this announcement, John Davies, CEO at JLG Group (pictured above), said that it felt it was very important that this cross-party group – with members from both the House of Commons and House of Lords – understood the views of alternative lenders.

“Since the 2008 financial crisis, a varied and vibrant alternative lending sector has been established, bringing new solutions and products to embryonic and developing SMEs that are often underserved by the traditional banks.

“Alternative lenders support businesses at different stages of their development, so it is important their experience of dealing with SMEs is leveraged and all parties understand the challenges faced by both funders and borrowers alike.

“We have been particularly impressed with the APPG's efforts to create an accessible, affordable and timely dispute resolution mechanism for businesses and we support their range of future initiatives.”

Heather Buchanan, director of policy for the APPG said it was pleased to have the support of JLG Group.

“The APPG is a forum for consultation that brings together all stakeholders committed to levelling the playing field between lenders and borrowers.

“In this process, it is imperative that we take representations from the alternative lending market and we therefore welcome the opportunity for JLG Group and John to support our work at this crucial time.”

John – who is also chairman of the Association of Alternative Business Finance (AABF) – concluded: “It is no coincidence that I feel it is important to support the APPG's work as 'fairness' is one of the AABF's four key operating principles and we have the shared aim of wanting to promote the best standards of industry practice."