Invoice Finance Annual
Analysis – 2023
Annual analysis of invoice finance debentures registered at Companies House for 2023. This report covers the first full year of Spark Intel's invoice finance monitoring, establishing the baseline for future comparisons.
Largest Lender
Bibby
578 charges
RBS Migration
+251
Rapid Cash → RBS IF
Top Sector
763
employment activities
Mid-tier Growth
Apollo
90 → 160 charges (+78%)
Summary
The 2023 invoice finance analysis established Spark Intel's baseline for the UK IF market. Key highlights drawn from cross-referencing with subsequent reports include strong activity from Bibby Finance (578 charges), RBS Invoice Finance (480 charges) inflated by the Rapid Cash migration, and continued growth from mid-tier independents.
Notable lender volumes in 2023 included Lloyds Commercial Finance at 402, eCapital at 404, and Close Brothers at 321. The specialist segment saw Zodeq (99), Quba Solutions (92), and Sonovate (88) as the leading providers.
Employment activities remained the largest sector for IF activity, with wholesale trade and specialised construction also prominent. The RBS Rapid Cash discontinuation in early 2023 significantly distorted year-on-year comparisons for bank lenders.
Key Insights
- RBS Rapid Cash migration — RBS removed their Rapid Cash product in early 2023, migrating many customers to RBS Invoice Finance and inflating their charge count to 480.
- Bibby remained dominant — 578 charges across the year, maintaining their position as the largest IF lender by volume.
- Specialist growth — Zodeq, Quba Solutions and Sonovate all expanded, setting the stage for further growth in 2024.
- Mid-tier dynamism — Apollo Business Finance (160) and Team Factors (134) emerged as high-growth mid-tier players.
Lender Snapshot – 2023
Key lender volumes from the 2023 reporting period, drawn from cross-reference data in subsequent annual reports.
Banks
| Lender | 2022 | 2023 | Var. |
|---|---|---|---|
| RBS Invoice Finance | 229 | 480 | +251 |
| Lloyds Commercial Finance | 427 | 402 | -25 |
| HSBC Invoice Finance | 287 | 215 | -72 |
| SME Invoice Finance | 83 | 70 | -13 |
| Investec Capital | 48 | 28 | -20 |
Large Independents
| Lender | 2022 | 2023 | Var. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bibby Finance | 577 | 578 | +1 |
| eCapital Commercial Finance | 355 | 404 | +49 |
| Close Brothers | 308 | 321 | +13 |
| Skipton Business Finance | 170 | 209 | +39 |
| Novuna | 256 | 187 | -69 |
| Cynergy Business Finance | 117 | 121 | +4 |
| Time Finance | 114 | 103 | -11 |
| Ultimate Finance | 116 | 94 | -22 |
Mid-tier Independents (Selected)
| Lender | 2022 | 2023 | Var. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo Business Finance | 90 | 160 | +70 |
| Team Factors | 95 | 134 | +39 |
| Kriya | 136 | 106 | -30 |
| Optimum SME Finance | 75 | 95 | +20 |
| Paragon Business Finance | 70 | 79 | +9 |
| Wedo Finance | 59 | 53 | -6 |
| Satago | 40 | 51 | +11 |
| Peak Cashflow | 28 | 47 | +19 |
| 4SYTE | 53 | 45 | -8 |
Specialists
| Lender | 2022 | 2023 | Var. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zodeq | 90 | 99 | +9 |
| Quba Solutions | 80 | 92 | +12 |
| Sonovate | 57 | 88 | +31 |
| Giant Finance | 26 | 28 | +2 |
| Liquid Link | 39 | 25 | -14 |
Sector Overview
Breakdown of new IF charges by sector for 2023, as cross-referenced from subsequent reporting.
| Sector | 2022 | 2023 | Var. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment activities | 768 | 763 | -5 |
| Wholesale trade | 409 | 450 | +41 |
| Specialised construction | 355 | 352 | -3 |
| Transportation | 333 | 355 | +22 |
| Office admin & business support | 230 | 227 | -3 |
| Financial services (excl. insurance) | 141 | 160 | +19 |
| Fabricated metal products | 150 | 141 | -9 |
| Retail trade | 129 | 147 | +18 |
| Other personal service activities | 111 | 103 | -8 |
| Technology & software | 105 | 98 | -7 |
| Other manufacturing | 83 | 91 | +8 |
| Services to buildings & landscape | 88 | 99 | +11 |
| Human health activities | 100 | 87 | -13 |
| Printing & associated activities | 48 | 84 | +36 |
| Warehousing & transport support | 62 | 82 | +20 |
| Food products manufacturing | 84 | 79 | -5 |
Access the Full Report
Want the complete analysis including sector breakdowns, regional data, and full lender tables? Get in touch with the Spark team.
Contact the Spark TeamMethodology
This analysis uses AI-driven classification to identify invoice finance charges registered at Companies House. Charges are matched based on the charge-holder name or a combination of the name and the nature of the charge description.
For some lenders (e.g. Barclays, Santander), it is not feasible to produce a strong enough pattern to reliably match charges to IF. Where a group of companies has a charge, this is counted as one event. Multiple charges registered by the same company within the reporting period are not counted separately. Refactors are based on IF charges where a previous IF charge was satisfied within 100 days of the new charge or was left open.
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