Invoice finance and asset-based lending in the UK and Ireland continues to gain traction, rising to £23.4bn at the end of 2017, a 5% increase on the previous year, and driven largely by increased lending to small businesses
The figures, published by trade association UK Finance, show the number of clients remained stable at around 42,000.
Invoice finance and asset-based lending to small businesses (those with annual turnovers of less than £500,000) increased by 19% in December 2017 compared to the previous year, with advances worth a total of £833m.
Matthew Davies, director of invoice finance and asset based lending at UK Finance, said: ‘These figures show a continuing increase in the use of invoice finance and asset-based lending, particularly amongst smaller firms.
'This reflects a growing appetite for finance amongst those small businesses that are already using external funding.
‘These forms of finance can provide extra flexibility and improved liquidity for firms, unlocking working capital to help them grow and invest as well as allowing them to support their own suppliers.’
Annual sales of businesses supported by invoice finance and asset-based lending stood at a record £311bn in 2017, up 4% on 2016, while annual sales from business using export invoice discounting facilities stood at £27bn in 2017, a 21% rise from 2016.
Report by Pat Sweet
