Asset-based & asset-finance lenders

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.

Published terms

Pricing
Not published
Speed to terms
Not published
Sponsored or sponsorless
Both - corporate tier supports MBO/MBI, M&A, refinancing, expansion, restructuring; SME tiers are owner-managed working capital
Where they lend
UK-wide (separate Close Brothers Commercial Finance book in Ireland)
How they decide
Commercial (£350k-£3m), Corporate & ABL (£3m-£65m), Syndication (>£65m); broker/adviser-originated; delegated underwriting at lower tiers. Authority is delegated below committee on at least part of the book
Security
Receivables
Covenants
Springing covenant, tested only when a trigger is hit

As published by the lender and last reviewed July 2026. Terms quoted on a deal are set by the credit, not by a published band.

The desks that lend

Close Brothers Invoice Finance lends through 2 separate books. Which one reads a deal decides the security, the covenant package and the band, so the question is rarely whether Close Brothers Invoice Finance lends, but which of these would own it.

Invoice finance (tiered: scale up / commercial / corporate & ABL)

Facility
£350k to £3m
Security
Receivables
Covenants
Springing covenant, tested only when a trigger is hit
Funds
Acquisition · Growth · MBO · Refinance
Rules out
Needs a debtor/receivables base; asset-light service searches weaker fit

Asset finance (HP / lease / refinance)

Security
Fixed charge
Funds
Acquisition · Growth · MBO · Refinance
Rules out
Asset-value driven; standalone tickets typically sub-£3m per asset

Limits that apply across the firm

Stated limits, taken from Close Brothers Invoice Finance’s own published criteria, beyond the ones each desk carries above. A limit is where a lender starts from, not where it always ends: several of these move on a strong enough credit.

  • No appetite in adult, crypto, gambling or weapons

How they sit against the category

  • Its published ceiling is £3m; 30 of the 40 asset-based lenders here go at least as high.
  • Like 29 of the 40, it publishes no indicative price — a margin comes from a conversation, not a page.

Counted across the 40 asset-based & asset-finance lenders in this directory, on what each one publishes. What a lender discloses and what it will do are different things.

Questions this page answers

How large a facility does Close Brothers Invoice Finance write?

Published facilities run £350k to £3m. A band is what a lender states it will do, not what it will do on a given credit.

What security does Close Brothers Invoice Finance take?

On the published terms, receivables. What a lender takes on a given facility is set in the documents, not by a published stance.

Does Close Brothers Invoice Finance lend to companies without a private-equity sponsor?

Yes. Close Brothers Invoice Finance lends to owner-managed and sponsor-backed borrowers alike, so a company with no private-equity backer is not out of scope on that ground.

Where does Close Brothers Invoice Finance lend?

UK-wide (separate Close Brothers Commercial Finance book in Ireland).

What covenants does Close Brothers Invoice Finance set?

Springing covenant, tested only when a trigger is hit. A covenant package is negotiated on the facility; the published style is where the negotiation starts.

On the record

Sources: closebrothers.com · closeinvoice.co.uk · closeassetfinance.co.uk

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.