Invoice Finance Charges
Analysis – April 2024
Analysis of new invoice finance debentures registered at Companies House for April 2024. A strong month with +18% headline growth and +27% adjusted (excluding RBS). Large independents drove the majority of the uplift with 200 new charges.
Apr 2024 Total
429
new IF charges
Headline Var.
+18%
vs April 2023
Adjusted Var.
+27%
excl. RBS
Large Indep.
200
charges (+53 vs 2023)
Summary
April 2024 recorded 429 new IF charges, up from 364 in April 2023. This represents a strong +18% headline increase, rising to +27% on an adjusted basis when RBS Invoice Finance is excluded. This was the best-performing month of the year so far.
Large independents led the way with 200 charges, up from 147 in April 2023. Close Brothers Invoice Finance was combined with Close Brothers as a single entity within the dataset. Banks remained flat at 111 charges. Specialist lenders posted 55 charges, up from 37 in April 2023.
Key Insights
- Strong April across the board: +18% headline, +27% adjusted — best monthly performance of 2024.
- Large independents surged: 200 charges vs 147 in April 2023 (+36%).
- Close Brothers IF combined: Now tracked as a single entity within the dataset.
- Specialist growth continues: 55 charges in April, up from 37 (+49%).
- Cumulative January–April 2024: 1,625 charges, now materially ahead of 2023 on an adjusted basis.
Lender Analysis
Large independents drove April's strength with 200 charges. Banks remained flat at 111. Mid-tier activity declined, while specialist lenders continued their momentum.
Banks
| Lender | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Var. | YTD 2024 | YTD Var. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RBS Invoice Finance | 21 | 41 | 16 | -25 | 92 | -133 |
| Lloyds Commercial Finance | 24 | 34 | 43 | +9 | 143 | -5 |
| HSBC Invoice Finance | 24 | 25 | 30 | +5 | 88 | +9 |
| SME Invoice Finance | 3 | 6 | 10 | +4 | 26 | -5 |
| Investec Capital | 5 | 4 | 5 | +1 | 12 | -2 |
| Arbuthnot Latham | 2 | 1 | 7 | +6 | 10 | +4 |
| Total – Banks | 79 | 111 | 111 | – | 371 | -132 |
Large Independents
| Lender | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Var. | YTD 2024 | YTD Var. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bibby Finance | 48 | 45 | 65 | +20 | 241 | +39 |
| eCapital Commercial Finance | 37 | 27 | 36 | +9 | 142 | +1 |
| Close Brothers | 13 | 18 | 25 | +7 | 86 | -15 |
| Novuna | 15 | 10 | 13 | +3 | 70 | +11 |
| Skipton Business Finance | 20 | 12 | 21 | +9 | 64 | -11 |
| Cynergy Business Finance | 6 | 7 | 10 | +3 | 37 | -1 |
| Ultimate Finance | 5 | 9 | 8 | -1 | 36 | – |
| Time Finance | 10 | 10 | 8 | -2 | 29 | -7 |
| Kriya | 5 | 7 | 5 | -2 | 9 | -33 |
| Total – Large Independent | 167 | 147 | 200 | +53 | 759 | -2 |
Mid-tier Independents
| Lender | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Var. | YTD 2024 | YTD Var. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo Business Finance | 3 | 10 | 6 | -4 | 40 | -5 |
| Optimum SME Finance | 8 | 9 | 9 | – | 38 | +7 |
| Paragon Business Finance | 8 | 6 | 7 | +1 | 24 | -4 |
| 4SYTE | 3 | 3 | 3 | – | 21 | +11 |
| Sallyport Commercial Finance | 2 | 5 | 5 | – | 15 | +10 |
| Secure Trust Bank | 8 | 6 | 3 | -3 | 9 | -1 |
| Total – Mid-tier | 42 | 49 | 39 | -10 | 214 | +11 |
Specialists
| Lender | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Var. | YTD 2024 | YTD Var. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Factors | 12 | 9 | 13 | +4 | 54 | +13 |
| Zodeq | 2 | 5 | 15 | +10 | 63 | +38 |
| Sonovate | 2 | 9 | 10 | +1 | 52 | +32 |
| Quba Solutions | 10 | 7 | 5 | -2 | 38 | +9 |
| Liquid Link | 2 | 3 | 7 | +4 | 22 | +9 |
| Giant Finance | 3 | 4 | 5 | +1 | 8 | – |
| Total – Specialist | 30 | 37 | 55 | +18 | 234 | +102 |
Access the Full Report
Want the complete analysis including detailed 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 invoice finance. 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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