In October last year, Zopa broke the 100,000-member barrier and became officially Bigger Than Basildon (population: 99,876). Well, fans of milestones will be delighted by the news that the number of members has now rocketed to well over 150,000, promoting Zopa to Mightier Than Macclesfield (pop: 150,500) status. But now's not the time to get complacent. Keep spreading the word about Zopa through the Tell a Friend scheme, and let's aim to make Zopa Larger Than Leicester (pop: 288,000) by the end of the year.

• 5,862 new members joined
• The 0.5% lender bonus in the A*36 and A36 markets was expanded. You'll now qualify if you offer at 6% (or less) in A*36 and 7% (or less) in the A36 – see here for full details.
• You told us what you thought of the emails we send in our communications survey (and you can see the results below)
• We reduced the time it takes for borrowers to get their money
• Zopa won the internet equivalent of an Oscar, beating Bank of America, Chase Online, and others to the Webby for Banking/Bill-Paying
• We got a lot of media coverage, with a feature on BBC Click (which you can see by clicking ‘Watch Now' on this page), a mention on Radio 4's Moneybox programme, and articles in The Banker, Money Week, The Sunday Post, The Belfast Telegraph, silicon.com and many more

Zopa member Emma Hackforth (aka matchsticks) had a great idea about setting up a business that helped people with their CVs. But despite the fact she and her husband, Tom, had years of experience running a successful recruitment company, her bank wouldn't lend her the money. So she turned to Zopa lenders instead – and several months later, business is booming.

Hi Emma. How did the idea come about then?
We had a passion for recruitment but something was missing in our pack of services: they seemed very client-focussed and we wanted to assist our candidates in the job market. We knew how important CVs were to the recruitment process as Matchsticks (our headhunting company) survived on good quality CVs. That's how The CV Clinic was born.

You spotted a gap and went for it – Alan Sugar would be proud. What did you use your loan for then?
We used the money to develop the idea into a good website and launch the company. We also managed to get a good weekly advert in the Sunday Times appointment section. The money and support from Zopa lenders helped us do all that.

And how's business going?
Fab. We are about to launch our first overseas office in Romania. We were on live TV in Romania a few weeks ago actually, talking about the differences in UK CVs compared to those in Romania.

Some great publicity no doubt. So what should Zopa members avoid when it comes to writing their CVs?
Photographs and salaries.

And what's the worst CV you've ever come across?
We had one that was 14 pages and contained the person's favourite poem and his family's mission statement!

Hmmmm... an interesting approach. Thanks for talking to us Emma.

(Emma has very kindly offered that any Zopa members wanting help with their CV should ring Tom on 0845 226 0594 for a free 15 minute appraisal.)

Everyone who took part in our recent communications survey got their name in the hat to win an iPod Shuffle – and the lucky winner was Zopa lender (and discussion board regular) cashsolution. We caught up with him to ask about his approach to lending.

Hi cashsolution. How long have you been lending at Zopa?
12 months.

And what returns are you currently getting?
7.48% before fees.

How would you describe your lending strategy?
I'm trying to aim for the higher returns in the hope that bad debt doesn't materialise. Now that base rate has increased I'm aiming for a target rate of 8%.

That's a good rate to aim for. What advice would you give to new lenders?
BE PATIENT. Don't panic, don't check your computer daily – it doesn't work like that at the beginning. Interest etc will get added and if there are any hiccups someone will point them out on the discussion boards.

Can you sum up your approach to lending at Zopa in 4 words?
Maximum gain, minimum risk.

A sound strategy. Enjoy the iPod Shuffle cashsolution.

Last month we previewed the exciting head-to-head between Zopa Team Member Adrian and Zopa lender Pete Cuff at this year's London Marathon. Well, you'll be pleased to know both competitors completed the course and raised a lot of money for charity in the process. Even more importantly, a certain TV chef featured in both their days...

Many congratulations on finishing guys. What times did you get?
Adrian: 4 hours 13 mins – not quite what I'd hoped for, but I finished and I wasn't counting on the heat.
Pete: I got 3 hours 45mins. The weather did make things very difficult: very hot and sunny, not the ideal conditions for running unfortunately.

Sterling efforts nonetheless. Did you bump into each other on the way round?
Adrian: I didn't see Pete, although I did look out for him. There were soooo many people. I think I saw Gordon Ramsey at the finish area, but I was concentrating on trying to work out if I was still alive so it may have been a figment of my imagination.
Pete: My supporters at 23 miles had a very sweaty Gordon Ramsey stop right in front of them with dire cramp. Perhaps he bit off more than he could chew...

Nice. And what was the final blister count?
Adrian: NONE!!! I couldn't believe it, but not a single one!
Pete: Same here.

Unbelievable. Congrats again guys – you did Zopa proud.

That's it for this month. If you'd like to be interviewed for next month's edition, or if you have any good ideas for stories, please send an email to tom@zopa.com.

If you prefer not to receive communication like this from Zopa, no hard feelings. Email contactus@zopa.com to let us know. Just so you know it's us, your username is ###.

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