A new report by the Community Investment Steering Group a vision of “significant social and economic impact in underserved communities, created through sustainable capital invested at scale by a resilient enterprise lending CDFI sector.”

The report, Scaling Up Community Investment in the UK, sets out the economic, social and financial case for investing in CDFIs (responsible finance providers).

It describes “quantitative and qualitative evidence on the social and economic impact CDFIs are creating,” and presents an “ambitious but realistic target” to double CDFI annual lending growth to £35 million a year on average.

With the “right supportive environment” the market can reach £250 million lending per year to underserved small businesses, the report finds, creating or safeguarding 90,000 businesses and 150,000 jobs, and adding £6.3 billion to the UK economy.