Close Brothers Invoice Finance
The invoice finance and ABL arm of Close Brothers Group plc, one of the UK's longest-established merchant banks, offering facilities from single-debtor factoring to structured multi-asset ABL across a wide UK SME and mid-market client base.
What they do
Close Brothers Invoice Finance (legal entity: Close Invoice Finance Limited) provides invoice discounting, factoring, and asset-based lending to UK businesses, drawing on the balance sheet of its parent, Close Brothers Group plc. The invoice finance range runs from disclosed factoring for smaller businesses through to confidential invoice discounting for companies with material debtor books. The Corporate and ABL division layers in revolving credit against inventory, plant and machinery, and commercial property alongside the receivables facility, with bilateral ABL structures publicly cited at £1m–£65m and cash flow loan top-ups of up to £10m. The business also participates in syndicated and club ABL deals above £65m and has access to Growth Guarantee Scheme funding. Its proposition is explicitly bespoke rather than off-the-shelf: deals are structured around the specific asset mix and cash conversion cycle of the borrower.
Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise
They are the right counterparty for an asset-rich UK trading business — manufacturing, food and drink, recruitment, transport, wholesale — that generates strong debtor ledgers and/or holds significant stock, plant, or property and needs a combined working capital facility rather than a plain-vanilla term loan. Particularly well-suited at the £3m–£15m ABL facility level for businesses with turnover comfortably above £5m where multiple asset classes justify a blended structure. The depth of the parent balance sheet and a stated strategic push into the mid-market mean Close Brothers can grow with a borrower as facility size increases; the relationship model (named relationship directors, sector specialists) suits businesses that want continuity rather than a panel-managed credit process.
Where they are not the fit
Less natural for businesses with thin or concentrated debtor books, significant consumer receivables, or no hard assets to blend in — pure cash-flow lending is a secondary product here, not the core. Very early-stage or pre-revenue businesses will not meet the turnover thresholds for ABL. Companies seeking unsecured or covenant-light facilities, or where the lending need is primarily equity-like (development capital), will find a better fit elsewhere.
On the record
Legal entity is Close Invoice Finance Limited, Companies House number 00935949, incorporated 24 July 1968, registered address 10 Crown Place, London EC2A 4FT.
Wholly owned subsidiary of Close Brothers Group plc, a FTSE 250 UK merchant bank.
Bilateral ABL facilities publicly cited at £1m to £65m; syndicated and club facilities available above £65m; cash flow loan top-ups up to £10m.
ABL is described as primarily used by businesses with annual turnover in excess of £5m.
Accepted collateral includes trade debtors (up to 90% prepayment), revolving inventory, plant and machinery (new and used), and commercial property.
Managing Director George May stated the business is expanding its Corporate and ABL capabilities within the mid-market segment, with a geographic focus on London and the South of England.
Sectors explicitly served include recruitment, manufacturing, food and drink, construction, engineering, transport and haulage, wholesale and distribution, retail, technology, print and packaging, and business services.
Participates in the UK government's Growth Guarantee Scheme.
This profile is a curated reference note drawn from public sources, not financial advice or a recommendation. Appetite and terms change; a lender's fit for a given credit is established by approaching it, not inferred from a page.