Asset finance market grows in May

New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that asset finance new business (primarily leasing and hire purchase) grew by 10% in May, compared with the same month in 2017. New finance for plant and machinery grew in May by 4% compared with the same month in 2017, while the commercial vehicle…

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BNP Paribas Asset Management and CODE Investing agree SME loan partnership

CODE Investing has announced that it has entered into along-termm strategic partnership with BNP Paribas Asset Management as part of the development of its Alternative Financing platform. As an origination partner to BNP, CODE Investing will provide direct lending access to unsecured SME loans of between £500,000 and £5 million.  Under the leadership of Stéphane Blanchoz,…

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Hitachi Capital acquires Franchise Finance

28th June 2018 Mergers and Acquisitions |

Hitachi Capital UK has announced it has acquired of Franchise Finance, a specialist financial services provider to the franchising industry. The transaction boosts Hitachi Capital UK’s lending base to SMEs and franchisees, bringing considerable senior consultancy experience to the Group and helping to build a profitable portfolio within an underserved market. The acquisition also enables…

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Lending to manufacturers grows by 5.1%

26th June 2018 Commercial Credit Management |

UK Finance has published its latest business update for May 2018. The key findings from the report include: Lending to manufacturers grew by 5.1 per cent in the last 12 months, in contrast to a wider 2.5 per cent contraction overall in UK business borrowing. UK business deposits grew by 3.1 per cent in the…

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Number of new loans to SMEs increases

18th June 2018 Commercial Credit Management |

The Number of new loans to SMEs has increased in Quarter 1 according to new figures from UK Finance Commenting on the data, Stephen Pegge, Managing Director, Commercial at UK Finance said “The number of new approved loans to SMEs grew slightly in the first quarter of the year, driven in part by increased demand…

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Asset finance market rebounds with 7% growth in April

11th June 2018 Commercial Credit Management |

New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that asset finance new business (primarily leasing and hire purchase) grew by 7% in April, compared with the same month in 2017. New business in the plant and machinery finance and business equipment finance sectors was up by 13% and 18% respectively, while commercial…

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BNP Paribas Asset Management launches SME alternative financing platform

BNP Paribas Asset Management announced that its SME (Small & Medium-sized Enterprise) Alternative Financing platform has completed its first transaction, a six-year senior unsecured amortising loan. The loan will enable a specialist recruitment services company based in the West of England to support its business growth. SME Alternative Financing offers BNPP AM’s client base differentiated and…

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Business borrowing decreases by 1.7%

Latest statistics from the UK Finance’s business finance for April 2018 has revealed that UK business borrowing contracted slightly by 1.7 percent in the last 12 months. However, within industry sectors, there was a mixed picture with manufacturing maintaining strong growth at 8 percent while construction contracted by 6.3 percent in the year. In addition, UK business deposits grew…

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Small business investment falls amid £14bn late payment crisis

The number of small firms planning to decrease investment has hit an 18-month high, according to new research from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). It was announced on Friday that UK business investment fell to £46.1 billion between Q4 2017 and Q1 2018. Seven in ten (69%) small firms are not planning to increase…

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Asset finance falls by 5% in March

New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that asset finance new business (primarily leasing and hire purchase) fell by 5% in March, compared with the same month last year, and by 3% in Q1 2018 overall. New finance for business equipment grew in March by 13% compared with the same month…

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FCA clarifies credit and hire definitions

20th April 2018 Consumer Collections |

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced changes to the definition of income between consumer hire leases and consumer credit after a response to its consultation. In December of last year, the FCA made a call for leasing businesses to respond to the regulator. Under the current rule, FCA fees for regulated credit agreements such…

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Fixed-rate loans leaving businesses exposed to rising interest rates

16th April 2018 Commercial Credit Management |

Just 11% of the £416 billion in the total stock of loans to businesses are now being provided on a fixed rate – dropping by a third from 18% two years ago – leaving businesses with huge exposure to rising interest rates, says Hadrian’s Wall Capital, the London-based specialist debt adviser. The drop came as…

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Quarter of UK SMEs miss business opportunities due to lack of funding

11th April 2018 Commercial Credit Management |

A new report by Aldermore titled Future Attitudes has revealed that just under a quarter (23%) of SMEs, representing 1.27million small and medium-sized businesses across the UK, are missing out on new business opportunities due to a lack of available funding a 4% increase on the previous year. The report, which surveyed over a thousand business…

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