The increase is of GBP 1.6 billion on the same period a year ago, according to the Asset Based Finance Association (ABFA), the body representing the asset based finance industry in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
The ABFA says that this jump in the use of invoice finance and asset based lending (borrowing against the value of the businesses other assets) is now primarily driven by businesses funding growth plans rather than replacing their use of traditional term loans or overdrafts.
According to the research, businesses are now using 38 % more asset based finance than at the height of the recession in December 2009, when GBP 14.1 billion was provided.
The ABFA says that the speed at which asset based finance facilities can be agreed or extended makes them an ideal way for businesses to respond quickly to growth opportunities arise as the economy recovers.
Additionally, Jeff Longhurst, Chief Executive of the ABFA explains that there is also another GBP 20.5 billion of unused facilities agreed with businesses which they could drawdown if they required it.
80 % of asset based finance is invoice finance, in which businesses secure funding against their unpaid invoices, while the other 20 % represents the area of asset based lending, in which businesses can raise money secured against a range of other assets they own, including inventory, property and machinery.
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