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Working Capital And Receivables Finance
If your business sells B2B on 30, 60, or 90-day terms, you are not “waiting for money”, you are running a working-capital gap. Invoice finance is the tool built for that gap: it advances cash against your approved invoices, so payroll, suppliers, and growth do not stall while customers take their time to pay.
This guide lists ten well-known UK invoice finance providers and explains how to choose between invoice factoring, invoice discounting, and selective invoice finance. It also gives you a lender-grade checklist so you can move faster during underwriting.
If you want an execution path, Financely can help you package the deal, tighten eligibility, and route the request to aligned lenders. See our practical explainer on invoice finance vs factoring and our process on how it works.
“Invoice finance” is a category label used in the UK market for facilities secured primarily on accounts receivable, also called your sales ledger. The lender is not guessing whether you will get paid. They underwrite whether your invoices are eligible, whether your customers are creditworthy, and whether the documentation proves the debt is real, delivered, and collectible. That is why invoice finance pricing, covenants, and monitoring tend to track the quality of your debtor book more than your fixed assets.
Two terms show up everywhere: advance rate and reserve. The advance rate is the percentage of an eligible invoice you can draw upfront, often 70% to 95% depending on sector and risk profile. The reserve is the withheld portion that gets released later, once payment is collected and fees are deducted. Understanding those mechanics matters because the facility can look big on paper while still leaving you short if eligibility rules are strict.
Fast rule: If your customers pay reliably and you want confidentiality, invoice discounting often fits. If you want outsourced collections and credit control, invoice factoring is the usual route. If you only need funding for a few large invoices, selective invoice finance (spot factoring) can be the cleanest.
Invoice factoring typically includes a service element: the provider can manage collections, chase late payments, and sometimes offer bad-debt protection. In plain terms, you are paying for both funding and an operating function, which can be valuable if your internal credit control is stretched. Invoice discounting is commonly confidential and keeps collections with you, which protects customer relationships when you do not want clients to know you use a facility.
When clients search “best invoice finance companies UK” or “invoice factoring companies UK”, they often mean: who can fund quickly, what does it cost, and what will a lender reject. The truth is boring but important: the best provider for you depends on your debtor concentration, your sector (construction and recruitment behave differently), and how clean your invoicing and delivery evidence really is.
This list focuses on established UK providers with recognizable invoice finance propositions across invoice factoring and invoice discounting. It also leans on mainstream industry visibility such as award shortlists and trade-body context, because that is closer to how a CFO or finance director would shortlist providers in real life. You should still run your own fit test based on turnover, debtor quality, and facility structure.
Aldermore is a long-standing UK invoice finance provider offering invoice factoring and invoice discounting structures. It is a practical fit for businesses that want a bank-backed option with clear processes and mainstream underwriting.
Official site: Aldermore invoice finance
Bibby Financial Services is a large independent name in UK invoice finance, commonly used by SMEs that want specialist attention on the sales ledger. If your growth plan is constrained by slow-paying customers, this is a provider many finance teams will compare early.
Official site: Bibby invoice finance
Close Brothers offers invoice finance and asset-based lending. This is relevant when your working capital solution needs to flex beyond receivables alone, for example when inventory or other assets also matter to borrowing capacity.
Official site: Close Brothers invoice finance
Investec’s working capital offering is positioned for owner-managed and mid-market businesses that want a structured working-capital solution with bank-grade execution. It is often considered when your funding need is tied to growth planning rather than short-term firefighting.
Official site: Investec working capital
Lloyds offers invoice finance described as invoice discounting, typically aimed at improving cash flow by advancing against unpaid invoices. If you are already in a Lloyds banking relationship, this can be a relevant internal route to compare against independent providers.
Official site: Lloyds invoice finance
Metro Bank offers invoice finance aimed at advancing cash on invoices to reduce the lag between delivery and payment. The operational question here is not the headline advance rate, but how eligibility and debtor quality are assessed for your sector.
Official site: Metro Bank invoice finance
Novuna positions its invoice finance proposition around quick access to working capital tied to invoices. It can be relevant if you want a guided path to comparing options, particularly when you are not sure whether discounting, factoring, or a hybrid structure fits best.
Official site: Novuna invoice finance
Skipton Business Finance offers invoice factoring and invoice discounting products with sector-focused options. This is commonly evaluated by SMEs that want a specialist proposition with straightforward ledger-based funding.
Official site: Skipton Business Finance
Time Finance provides invoice finance solutions aimed at improving cash flow by advancing against invoices, often framed around speed and day-to-day working capital relief. It can be a fit when you want a specialist lender rather than a high-street bank workflow.
Official site: Time Finance invoice finance
Ultimate Finance offers invoice finance that can scale with sales and can include add-ons like confidentiality or collection services depending on your structure. This is relevant when you want a tailored facility rather than a one-size product.
Official site: Ultimate Finance invoice finance
Most invoice finance rejections are not about your ambition. They are about evidence. The lender is underwriting collectability, so they focus on whether your invoices are real, undisputed, and supported by delivery documentation. If your invoicing is messy, your contracts are vague, or your debtor book is concentrated in one risky customer, you will feel it immediately in pricing, reserves, or outright decline.
Expect questions on who pays you, how often they pay late, whether any customer disputes invoices, and whether a single debtor dominates your ledger. Debtor concentration matters because one customer delay can consume the whole facility.
“Eligible invoices” usually exclude related-party invoices, pro-forma invoices, long-dated invoices, and invoices with unclear proof of delivery. Lenders also commonly apply dilution reserves for credits, returns, or disputes.
You will be asked for contract terms, proof of delivery, your invoicing process, and sometimes your aged receivables and aged payables. Clean paperwork shortens underwriting timelines and reduces back-and-forth.
Lenders want reporting cadence, audit rights, and operational controls. This is not “red tape”. It is how they protect themselves against fictitious invoices, double-financing, and disputes.
If you are comparing invoice finance providers in the UK, start with your objective, not the brand. Are you solving a timing issue (working capital smoothing), funding growth (bigger customer contracts), or repairing operational stress (late payments forcing supplier strain)? Each objective points to a different structure and a different tolerance for fees and controls.
Next, pressure-test your “real cost”. Invoice finance pricing is usually a combination of a service fee (linked to turnover) and a discount charge (linked to funds used and base rate). The cheapest headline rate is irrelevant if eligibility rules are tight and your effective availability is low.
If your goal is speed, the winning move is to submit a lender-ready pack rather than “shopping around” with partial information. Financely helps companies structure receivables finance requests, tighten eligibility narratives, and present a clean evidence trail so lenders can actually say yes. This is the same logic we apply across working capital facilities: underwriting first, outreach second.
If you want more context, start with working capital funding options and our Europe-focused overview on alternatives to banks for working capital and trade-linked facilities. For smaller ticket sizes, see working capital under $10M.
If you have a defined debtor book and invoices issued to real B2B customers, submit your request and we will package the facility and route it to aligned invoice finance providers.
Submit Your DealIn practice, UK businesses often use “invoice finance” as the umbrella term and “accounts receivable financing” as the more generic description. Both refer to funding secured primarily against receivables. The important part is not the label, it is the structure: eligibility rules, advance rate, reserves, monitoring, and whether collections stay with you or move to the provider.
Yes, longer payment terms are one of the main reasons invoice finance exists. The lender will still underwrite the debtor quality and the documentation trail. If your invoices are frequently disputed, your effective availability will shrink through reserves, and you may be pushed into stricter controls or declined.
Bad debt protection is not “free insurance”. It is a risk transfer product that can be valuable if a single customer default would hit your cash flow hard. It is most relevant when your debtor book has a few large accounts or you sell into sectors where insolvency risk is not theoretical. You still need clean credit control and dispute management, because bad debt protection will not cover invoices that are not contractually collectible.
Speed depends on onboarding readiness. If your ledger is clean, contracts are clear, delivery evidence is available, and your debtor book is credible, onboarding can be quick. If your documentation is inconsistent, expect rework, clarifications, and slower timelines. The fastest route is to prepare a complete lender-grade pack before outreach so providers can underwrite with confidence.
If you want an invoice finance shortlist that matches your debtor book and documentation, start with a clean pack and a clear structure. Speed comes from evidence, not enthusiasm.
For broader market context and terminology: UK Finance: Invoice Finance and Asset-Based Lending. For a mainstream shortlist reference point: Business Moneyfacts Awards shortlist.
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