Invoice Finance Charges
Analysis — January 2024
Analysis of new invoice finance debentures registered at Companies House for January 2024, including charges submitted to 9th February 2024. Excluding RBS Invoice Finance, underlying activity increased by 9% compared to January 2023.
YoY Change (adj.)
+9%
excl. RBS Invoice Finance
Jan 2024 Total
360
new IF charges
Headline Change
-1.1%
vs Jan 2023 (incl. RBS)
Lenders Tracked
40+
across all tiers
Summary
The UK invoice finance market registered 360 new charges in January 2024, a slight headline decline of 1.1% compared to January 2023. However, activity by RBS Invoice Finance in 2023 creates a significant distortion. Excluding RBS, underlying new business activity increased by 9%, indicating healthy growth across independent and specialist lenders.
Both mid-tier independents and specialist lenders saw strong growth in activity. Bibby Finance recorded the highest volume among large independents with 53 new charges. Specialist providers collectively registered 57 new charges, up from 31 in January 2023, with Zodeq, Quba Solutions, and Team Factors all contributing to the uplift.
Key Insights
- Adjusted growth of 9% when RBS Invoice Finance activity is excluded from the year-on-year comparison.
- Specialist lenders surged — 57 new charges in January 2024 vs 31 in January 2023 (+84%).
- Bibby Finance led large independents with 53 new charges, up from 43 in the prior year.
- Employment activities remained the largest sector with 60 cumulative charges, up from 56 in 2023.
- Sallyport Commercial Finance recorded 6 new charges, entering the dataset as a notable new presence.
Sector Analysis — January 2024
New invoice finance charges for January 2024 broken down by borrower sector. Employment activities continued to dominate, while warehousing and wholesale/retail trade saw notable increases. This analysis excludes RBS Invoice Finance.
| Sector | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Var. | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employment activities | 69 | 56 | 60 | +4 | 7% |
| Wholesale trade | 25 | 24 | 27 | +3 | 13% |
| Specialised construction | 24 | 23 | 26 | +3 | 13% |
| Transportation | 26 | 24 | 25 | +1 | 4% |
| Office admin & business support | 12 | 17 | 17 | — | 0% |
| Retail trade | 5 | 13 | 13 | — | 0% |
| Financial services (excl. insurance) | 10 | 11 | 11 | — | 0% |
| Fabricated metal products | 13 | 7 | 7 | — | 0% |
| Other personal services | 8 | 10 | 2 | -8 | -80% |
| Human health activities | 9 | 10 | 8 | -2 | -20% |
| Construction of buildings | 4 | 7 | 1 | -6 | -86% |
| Security & investigation | 7 | 4 | 3 | -1 | -25% |
| Warehousing & transport support | 4 | 4 | 10 | +6 | 150% |
| Technology & software | 7 | 6 | 8 | +2 | 33% |
| Building & landscape services | 5 | 4 | 8 | +4 | 100% |
| Wholesale & retail trade | 0 | 3 | 7 | +4 | 133% |
Lender Analysis
Banks and larger independents saw a slight reduction in activity compared to January 2023 when including RBS. Mid-tier and specialist lenders both recorded strong growth, with specialists up 84% year on year.
Banks
| Lender | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Var. | Refactor % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RBS Invoice Finance | 17 | 52 | 21 | -31 | 29% |
| Lloyds Commercial Finance | 30 | 34 | 32 | -2 | 13% |
| HSBC Invoice Finance | 35 | 15 | 18 | +3 | 11% |
| SME Invoice Finance | 9 | 6 | 2 | -4 | 0% |
| Arbuthnot Latham | 3 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 0% |
| Investec Capital | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | 0% |
| Total — Banks | 94 | 109 | 74 | -35 | 16% |
Large Independents
| Lender | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Var. | Refactor % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bibby Finance | 46 | 43 | 53 | +10 | 15% |
| eCapital Commercial Finance | 14 | 33 | 29 | -4 | 10% |
| Close Brothers | 12 | 24 | 18 | -6 | 22% |
| Novuna | 20 | 18 | 16 | -2 | 13% |
| Skipton Business Finance | 12 | 16 | 15 | -1 | 13% |
| Cynergy Business Finance | 6 | 11 | 11 | — | 18% |
| Kriya | 19 | 3 | 1 | -2 | 0% |
| Time Finance | 7 | 4 | 9 | +5 | 22% |
| Ultimate Finance | 7 | 12 | 10 | -2 | 50% |
| Praetura | 4 | 2 | 2 | — | 100% |
| IGF | 6 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 0% |
| Leumi ABL | 3 | 1 | 2 | +1 | 0% |
| Pulse Cashflow Finance | 2 | 3 | 1 | -2 | 0% |
| Total — Large Independent | 158 | 171 | 167 | -4 | 18% |
Mid-tier Independents
| Lender | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Var. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo Business Finance | 5 | 7 | 11 | +4 |
| Optimum SME Finance | 9 | 9 | 8 | -1 |
| Paragon Business Finance | 2 | 2 | 6 | +4 |
| 4SYTE | 8 | 3 | 6 | +3 |
| Sallyport Commercial Finance | 0 | 0 | 6 | +6 |
| GRENKE | 0 | 0 | 4 | +4 |
| Shire Invoice Finance | 1 | 1 | 3 | +2 |
| Peak Cashflow | 3 | 0 | 3 | +3 |
| Secure Trust Bank | 5 | 1 | 2 | +1 |
| Castlebridge Finance | 0 | 4 | 2 | -2 |
| Wedo Finance | 0 | 4 | 2 | -2 |
| Regency Factors | 1 | 6 | 2 | -4 |
| Flex ABL | 2 | 0 | 1 | +1 |
| Total — Mid-tier | 45 | 46 | 56 | +10 |
Specialists
| Lender | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Var. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Factors | 4 | 12 | 14 | +2 |
| Zodeq | 8 | 5 | 13 | +8 |
| Quba Solutions | 12 | 5 | 13 | +8 |
| Sonovate | 4 | 3 | 8 | +5 |
| Liquid Link | 1 | 6 | 9 | +3 |
| Total — Specialist | 30 | 31 | 57 | +26 |
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. Where a group of companies holds a charge, it is counted as one event. Multiple charges registered by the same company within the reporting period are not counted separately.
For some lenders (e.g. Barclays, Santander), it is not feasible to produce a strong enough pattern to reliably match charges to invoice finance. Refactors are based on IF charges where a previous IF charge was satisfied within 100 days of the new charge or was left open. "Phoenix" companies funded are not treated as refactors.
Frequently Asked Questions
This report analyses new invoice finance charges registered at Companies House during January 2024, including charges submitted to 9th February 2024. It covers lender-level activity, sector breakdowns, and regional distribution across the UK invoice finance market.
360 new invoice finance charges were registered in January 2024, a slight decrease of 1.1% compared to January 2023. Excluding RBS Invoice Finance activity, the underlying increase was 9%.
The report breaks down activity across four lender categories: Banks (including RBS, Lloyds, HSBC, SME Invoice Finance, Arbuthnot Latham, and Investec), Large Independents (including Bibby, eCapital, Close Brothers, and others), Mid-tier Independents, and Specialists (including Team Factors, Zodeq, Quba Solutions, and Sonovate).
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