Invoice finance and asset-based lending rose 5% at end of 2017
Invoice finance and asset-based lending in the UK stood at £22.2bn at the end of last year, up 5% on the funds advanced at the end of 2016, new figures from UK Finance have revealed. The number of clients remained stable at about 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 with the previous year, with advances worth a total of £833m.
Annual sales of clients supported by invoice finance and asset-based lending stood at a record £311bn in 2017, up 4% on 2016.
Annual sales from clients through export invoice discounting facilities stood at £27bn in 2017, up 21% on 2016.
Matthew Davies, director of invoice finance and asset-based lending at UK Finance, commented: “Our latest figures show a continuing increase in the use of these forms of funding, particularly among smaller firms. This reflects a growing appetite for finance among 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. The industry will continue to work to increase awareness among businesses about the different sources of finance that might be appropriate for them.”
