Zopa UK is a peer to peer lending company [ P2P ]. There are others listed at Wikipedia Category: Peer to Peer Lending Companies. Another is Ratesetter, a greed driven operation. Funding Circle sounds better. If you want your money back sooner for some reason go to http://uk.zopa.com/ZopaWeb/public/lending/rapid-return.html
ZOPA - an example for borrowers:-
Nice low rates and no sneaky feesBorrow £5000 over 36 months at 5.7% fixed
Representative APR †
7.6%
Total amount of credit †
£5,130.00
Total repayable amount †
£5,583.94
Per month
£155.11
Rates taken from our marketplace at 01:10, 2/3/2012. Subsequent rates may vary and will depend on your individual circumstances.
† Includes a borrowing fee of £130.00.
http://uk.zopa.com/ZopaWeb/public/lending/rapid-return.html
Here are the details for Funding Circle (under Easy access to your money)
https://www.fundingcircle.com/investors/better-for-investors
Zopa Doing Well By Challenging Banks [ 10 January 2015 ]
Actually it sounds a bit dodgy;
borrowing money to hire new offices & staff might work but..........