Invoice Finance Charges
Analysis – March 2024
Analysis of new invoice finance debentures registered at Companies House for March 2024. RBS Invoice Finance activity in 2023 created a noticeable distortion in the headline figures. Excluding RBS, the adjusted decrease was 6.7%, although overall Q1 2024 remained ahead of 2023.
Mar 2024 Total
429
new IF charges
Cumulative Q1
1,196
Jan–Mar 2024
Specialist YTD
179
vs 95 in Q1 2023
Record Month
Bibby
& Zodeq – record activity
Summary
March 2024 saw 429 new IF charges registered at Companies House. The headline comparison shows a decline versus March 2023 (506), but this is heavily distorted by elevated RBS activity in the prior year. Excluding RBS, the adjusted decrease was 6.7%.
Despite the headline decline, Q1 2024 as a whole remained ahead of Q1 2023 when adjusting for RBS. Bibby Finance and Zodeq both recorded record months. Specialist providers collectively posted 64 new charges for the month, compared to 35 in March 2023. New lenders Upstream Working Capital and Invoice Exchange were added to the dataset.
Key Insights
- Record months for Bibby Finance and Zodeq in March 2024.
- Specialist providers posted 64 charges in March, up from 35 in March 2023 (+83%).
- Specialised construction rose 35% year on year with 42 cumulative charges.
- Q1 2024 ahead of Q1 2023 on an adjusted basis (excluding RBS).
- New lenders added: Upstream Working Capital and Invoice Exchange.
Sector Analysis – Cumulative to March 2024
Cumulative Q1 2024 sector breakdown. Specialised construction led growth at +35%. This analysis excludes RBS Invoice Finance.
| Sector | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Var. | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employment activities | 80 | 66 | 63 | -3 | -5% |
| Wholesale trade | 32 | 39 | 37 | -2 | -5% |
| Specialised construction | 33 | 31 | 42 | +11 | 35% |
| Transportation | 23 | 41 | 24 | -17 | -41% |
| Office admin & business support | 17 | 14 | 20 | +6 | 43% |
| Financial services (excl. insurance) | 14 | 15 | 9 | -6 | -40% |
| Fabricated metal products | 17 | 11 | 16 | +5 | 45% |
| Human health activities | 6 | 9 | 15 | +6 | 67% |
| Construction of buildings | 7 | 4 | 9 | +5 | 125% |
| Technology & software | 11 | 10 | 4 | -6 | -60% |
| Building & landscape services | 11 | 14 | 8 | -6 | -43% |
Lender Analysis
Banks and larger independents experienced a continued reduction in activity. Specialists delivered very strong Q1 results with cumulative charges of 179 vs 95 in Q1 2023.
Banks
| Lender | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Var. | YTD 2024 | YTD Var. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RBS Invoice Finance | 21 | 71 | 23 | -48 | 76 | -108 |
| Lloyds Commercial Finance | 40 | 39 | 34 | -5 | 100 | -14 |
| HSBC Invoice Finance | 27 | 21 | 20 | -1 | 58 | +4 |
| SME Invoice Finance | 12 | 10 | 10 | – | 16 | -9 |
| Arbuthnot Latham | 3 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 3 | -2 |
| Investec Capital | 6 | 4 | 6 | +2 | 7 | -3 |
| Total – Banks | 109 | 146 | 93 | -53 | 260 | -132 |
Large Independents
| Lender | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Var. | YTD 2024 | YTD Var. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bibby Finance | 72 | 69 | 78 | +9 | 176 | +19 |
| eCapital Commercial Finance | 37 | 50 | 33 | -17 | 106 | -8 |
| Close Brothers | 26 | 26 | 20 | -6 | 61 | -22 |
| Novuna | 15 | 18 | 27 | +9 | 57 | +8 |
| Skipton Business Finance | 17 | 28 | 11 | -17 | 43 | -20 |
| Cynergy Business Finance | 14 | 12 | 8 | -4 | 27 | -4 |
| Time Finance | 10 | 10 | 8 | -2 | 21 | -5 |
| Ultimate Finance | 15 | 12 | 6 | -6 | 28 | -1 |
| Kriya | 7 | 18 | 0 | -18 | 4 | -31 |
| Total – Large Independent | 232 | 252 | 207 | -45 | 559 | -55 |
Mid-tier Independents
| Lender | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Var. | YTD 2024 | YTD Var. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo Business Finance | 9 | 17 | 9 | -8 | 34 | -1 |
| Optimum SME Finance | 8 | 10 | 11 | +1 | 29 | +7 |
| 4SYTE | 3 | 1 | 5 | +4 | 18 | +11 |
| Paragon Business Finance | 6 | 10 | 9 | -1 | 17 | -5 |
| Sallyport Commercial Finance | 0 | 0 | 2 | +2 | 10 | +10 |
| Secure Trust Bank | 6 | 3 | 4 | +1 | 6 | +2 |
| Total – Mid-tier | 52 | 65 | 57 | -8 | 175 | +21 |
Specialists
| Lender | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Var. | YTD 2024 | YTD Var. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zodeq | 2 | 7 | 25 | +18 | 48 | +28 |
| Sonovate | 4 | 8 | 17 | +9 | 42 | +31 |
| Team Factors | 9 | 11 | 9 | -2 | 41 | +9 |
| Quba Solutions | 11 | 7 | 7 | – | 33 | +11 |
| Liquid Link | 3 | 2 | 6 | +4 | 15 | +5 |
| Giant Finance | 3 | 2 | 0 | -2 | 3 | -1 |
| Total – Specialist | 29 | 35 | 64 | +29 | 179 | +84 |
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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