Total funding advances to clients has now hit £18.3 bn, the highest quarterly balance ever. In December 2009 this balance was £13.9 bn, but since then it has grown steadily most quarters to now hit over £18 bn just four years later, an aggregate growth of some 32 per cent. The balance has grown 11 per cent in the past year alone and 3.5 per cent in just the last quarter.
Matching this record breaking growth is the sales turnover from companies using asset based finance. Total client sales for 2013 have reached over £275 bn, a growth of 10 per cent year-on-year. In 2010 the total turnover figure was £211 bn; this shows a cumulative current growth of 30 per cent in three years, underlining just how much asset based finance has supported UK and Irish firms with their sales growth since the financial crisis.
The quarterly sales figure of £72.7 bn is also a record high, pipping last quarter’s figure by over £1 bn and it is only the second time this has been over the £70 bn mark for a single quarter. The export figures for both factoring and invoice discounting are also showing robust growth, with year-on-year increases of 18 per cent and 12 per cent respectively. This indicates that UK and Irish firms are successfully working hard to exploit sales opportunities worldwide that complement the economic recovery currently underway.
Apart from financing growth opportunities, the demand for asset based finance is also being driven for working capital needs. A new report from commercial payment system Sage Pay sees small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) being owed a staggering £55 bn in unpaid invoices. This is even after the Government warned large corporations to make payments on time, but the problem is continuing, with two thirds of firms spending weeks attempting to secure payment for bills. This all underlines just how important factoring is to SMEs, allowing them to focus on actually running a business rather than chasing up unpaid invoices.
Whilst the Banks appear to be less enthusiastic in lending to the SME market the invoice finance sector continues to support the SME sector. The banking sector in the UK is concentrated in a handful of companies whereas there over 30 invoice finance companies offering both choice and finance across a number of industry sectors.
Findmeafactor has relationships with all the invoice finance companies and can ensure that a facility can be found for virtually any prospect.