Specialist asset-based lender Ultimate Finance reports today another landmark year with a new record high loan book reached of £342m and strong new business across all three products, up 11% in 2024. This has been achieved by the lender investing in both people and capabilities to ensure they deliver on their mission to provide a wide range of flexible solutions to support the ambitions of UK businesses.
The asset-based lender’s highlights include:
- Reaching a record total loan book of £342m with growth in their average loan book size of 14% and £100m loan book milestones reached for the first time in both Asset Finance and Bridging Finance
- Providing a record £183m of new facilities, up 11% on 2023, split £80m Bridging Finance, £58m Asset Finance and £44m Working Capital – representing annual origination growth in all three product areas
- Enhancements to their solution offering including:
- Introducing 3-year cashflow loans up to £500k alongside a wider asset-based facility, to continue their growth in lending to support key business events such as acquisitions
- Increasing their maximum Asset Finance facility size to £2m with longer terms up to 7 years and larger balloon payments
- Exciting Bridging Finance product news to come on the back of a year of strong progress that included being awarded Specialist Product of the Year at the 2024 Bridging and Commercial Awards
- Strong customer service metrics, with the average Working Capital client life growing to 8 years, an industry leading Trustpilot score of 4.9/5 and a Net Promoter Score of 73
Josh Levy, CEO of Ultimate Finance, said “Our focus in 2024 was to drive growth in our business by having all areas of the business firing together to deliver on our mission to lend more money than ever to UK businesses. This has only been possible because of the investment we have made in developing our market leading capabilities to ensure we are easy to deal with and to get funding out to SMEs as quickly as possible. Our record loan book of £342m and 11% increase in new business origination demonstrates that we are successfully delivering on our strategy.
As part of the investment in our capabilities and our future ambition, we welcomed several new colleagues in key areas within the business and have already added six new joiners in the first week of January. They are targeted at expanding our regional footprint and their experience, networks and expertise will give us the ability to serve more introducers and their clients across the country. We also secured £370m of wholesale funding for the next three years through a combination of new and extended facilities which provides the platform for us to continue our ambitious growth.
With a new Labour government in place and their budget plans being implemented, there are some challenges coming up quickly in 2025, not least the increase in Employers National Insurance contribution putting added pressure on cashflow. Now is the time to ensure businesses are prepared for the challenges ahead and to put the right funding structure in place before any of these impacts hit.
Our vision to be the Funding Partner of Choice is clearly demonstrated by the longevity of our client relationships which has seen our average Working Capital client retention grow to 8 years. Our continued commitment to delivering tailored asset-based lending solutions through a high-quality personalised service model for both our clients and valued introducer partners means we are well placed to continue to support the investment opportunities and cashflow challenges of UK businesses in 2025.”
