"Promising at first but a waste of money in the end"

None of the money that I placed on their platform has been invested since 15 June 2020.
It means that I receive no interest and that I have lost the welcome bonus because I won't comply with the minimal amount of 2000£ invested. In other words there is no point about keeping money on this platform anymore.

I tried to contact the support more than a week ago to confirm that I won't be entitled to the bonus but I haven't received an answer even an automatic reply.

"It’s how you handle the tough times that count"

Sincerely disappointed that growth street have called a resolution event when there were so many other options available that would have benefited both investors and borrowers. I’m not giving this review because they had to freeze withdrawals, I think it was the right thing to do. I’m giving it because it’s how creative and resolute a company is in the tougher times and sadly growth street have shown Their weakness. I wouldn’t touch a peer to peer ever again after this. Better off in a long term fund supported by a computer to be honest.
My own stupid fault, I was nervous to start and then the inducement of bonuses encouraged me to save more with them. Years of saving potentially down the pan, I’ll be lucky to see back 75p in the pound and will take years to recover it

"It was all going so well until the…"

It was all going so well until the Covid-19 pandemic hit, investors became spooked and the platform went illiquid. A Liquidity Event was declared by Growth Street and, as per their terms, this lasts for up to 90 days before a Resolution Event is declared.

Their decision to call the Liquidity was overall a good thing to protect investors and the platform - however my issue is how lackadaisical Growth Street have been in trying to find solutions to resolve the liquidity issue.

It's yet to be seen how things will evolve over the next week before the end of the 90-day Liquidity Event (willing to re-evaluate my review if things turn for the better), but so far I am highly dissatisfied with Growth Street for numerous reasons:

1. Provided limited communication to investors. Sometimes weeks without any communication and when they do it's often "we're provide more information in the *next* communication" - when the next communication comes it's usually just highlighting already public information about their terms and not provided any real information about work they are actively doing to help remedy the Liquidity Event.

2. Unwilling to make amendments to investor terms or take on board suggestions to remedy the Liquidity Event - every other P2P platform I have invested in has made amendments and positive changes to their platform and terms to protect investors. It's my understanding they can make changes to their terms, given a 14 day notice period to investors, so I can only assume they are simply refusing to make changes to terms. There has been a lot of oversight in their terms which is ultimately going to harm investors.

3. Lucky set of investors get lump sum back upon call of a Resolution Event - it's yet to be seen if this will be called, but if it is then according to their terms any money not currently in a contract will be made instantly available in investors holding account. This is a total lottery to what investors get this, it all depends on date your rolling 30-day loans end. Some investors may get back 100% the day it's declared, some will get nothing. This is wholly unfair - yet another oversight in their terms.

4. Selling of the loan book - Growth Street have been primarily exploring selling of the loan book to remedy the Liquidity Event. Although they state they cannot comment on any updates on this until something has been finalised, all indications point to this being a completely fruitless endeavour - no company would want to purchase the loan book in these uncertain times and even if they are able to partially sell, the remaining loans left will be of poor quality and ultimately harm investors.

5. Resolution Event will lock the platform and go on for years – rather than trying to find a solution to the Liquidity Event, Growth Street seem to have set themselves on a course to declare a Resolution Event which means everything will go into wind-down, it could last for years with a much higher risk to capital loss and once declared this cannot be recalled.

Growth Street was great before this all started. But during tough times, how companies react is what separates a good company from a bad one - and Growth Street's actions, or rather inaction shows reckless disregard.

"It gets worse"

It gets worse, Growth Street are the only P2P lender I have been investing with (of more than 8) that will now no longer let you even withdraw your interest which is paid back into your holding account, instead they save it up and reinvest it against your wishes...

I went on live chat and all they do is copy & paste a section of their T&C's and don't reply to you as a human being. Why even have customer services if this is what you're going to do? They're going to have no investors left once this is all over.

"Good investment tool"

Happy investor for more than 4 months. Interest rate as advertised paid on monthly basis, appropriately sized Loan Loss Provision funds and simple interface.

Haven't tried the ISA bond yet as it requires 12m commitment.

"Easy to use"

Growth Street is very easy to use - in essence - just invest and forget. With each investment only being for 30 days, you never have to wait long if you need to withdraw it. I have actually "drip-fed" my investments so that they are spread out all through the month. Initially to ensure diversification in loans, but i was assured that was unnecessary due to the provision fund. However, it does mean that should I need to make a withdrawal, I only have to wait a few days. By having the automatic re-investment option set, repayments are reinvested, often immediately, but certainly within a day or so, so it can safely be left to its own devices while I get on with my life :-)

"Overall poor provider."

Overall poor provider. Seems to swap account managers every 3 months - I'm on my third. Lacks support for some of the bigger digital contenders so perhaps a little old school e.g. no integration but still calls to threaten me re clause breach.

Shows no flexibility or interest in understanding the individual business it's dealing with. Not the biggest fan. Would recommend funding circle instead - at least they don't pull the agreed overdraft facility with a few days notice at a critical time for the business.

"Very pleased with product and service..."

Very pleased with product and service...

"Long term, happy customer"

I opened a business account with Growth Street some time ago and have found it easier to understand and manage than other peer-to-peer lenders. Indeed, I opened a personal account this year. The process was even easier, and I started earning interest within days.

"Transferred from a cash I.S.A to the…"

Transferred from a cash I.S.A to the I.F.I.S.A which was simple and straight forward to do. Only been going for three months, however, so far so good. No complaints.