The report and briefing share the achievements, challenges and lessons learned by Aspire Microloans for Business, a pioneer of community development finance in the UK. They include a comparison of Aspire's performance with its original plans, describe the strengths and weaknesses of its business model, its best practices, and come to some conclusions about what's achievable in terms of microfinance scale and sustainability in a developed economy context. It concludes with lessons and recommendations for UK community development finance institutions (CDFIs) and funders.
