UK Invoice Finance Providers

Market Invoice's directory lists 83 UK invoice finance and factoring providers, 76 of them trading. They split into four broad groups: high street banks (HSBC, Lloyds, Barclays, NatWest, Santander), challenger banks (Aldermore, Metro Bank), independent specialists (Close Brothers, Bibby, Ultimate Finance, Skipton, IGF), and fintechs (Sonovate, Triver, Hydr, Accelerated Payments).

We don't hold figures that rank lenders by size. Well-known names include Close Brothers, Bibby Financial Services, Aldermore, Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance and HSBC Invoice Finance. Bibby describes itself as one of Europe's largest independent invoice finance providers, funding over 8,500 businesses.

Neither Skipton Business Finance nor Close Brothers publishes a rate: both price each facility individually. Actual cost depends on your turnover, debtor quality, and contract terms. Use our cost calculator at /calculator/ for an estimate, or compare 3 free quotes.

Invoice finance for limited companies is not a regulated activity in the UK because it falls outside FSMA business lending rules. Some providers also offer products to sole traders or partnerships that are FCA-regulated. Check the FCA Register for any specific provider's regulated permissions.

Look first at lenders whose minimum you clear. Ultimate Finance and Bibby Financial Services publish no minimum turnover, Hydr and Sonovate (recruitment only) publish no minimum, and Skipton publishes none. High street thresholds vary: Lloyds publishes £100,000 and NatWest £300,000, while HSBC requires £1m; Barclays and Santander publish no minimum.

Bank-owned providers (Barclays, NatWest, HSBC, Lloyds, Santander Invoice Finance) sit inside high street banking groups and mostly sell to the bank's own customers. None of them publishes a setup time, and their published minimums vary (Lloyds £100,000, NatWest £300,000, HSBC £1m; Barclays and Santander none).

Among the independents, Ultimate Finance says it sets up within one week and Aldermore says a few days to a few weeks; Close Brothers publishes no setup time. Few providers in either group publish their service charge, so compare quotes.

The 27 providers we compare on full published terms each carry an overall rating out of 5, plus sub-ratings for transparency, setup speed and flexibility. The ratings are our own view, not a figure from the lender. The rest of the directory is listed with status and type, not rated. Each provider profile shows when it was last reviewed.