Secure Trust Bank
A London-listed UK challenger bank whose Commercial Finance arm provides multi-asset asset-based lending and invoice finance to SMEs and larger corporates.
What they do
Secure Trust Bank plc is a PRA-authorised, FCA-regulated UK retail and commercial bank, listed on the London Stock Exchange. Its Commercial Finance division (established 2014) is a dedicated asset-based lender, offering invoice finance/discounting, stock and inventory finance, plant, machinery and vehicle finance, and property-secured commercial loans, typically blended into a single multi-asset ABL structure. Lending is predominantly against receivables, releasing up to 90% of qualifying invoices, and is most often deployed around event-driven situations — M&A, MBOs/MBIs, refinancing, private-equity-backed acquisitions, and turnaround/restructure. The division reports providing nearly £20bn to over 250 UK businesses in its first decade.
Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise
Secure Trust suits a borrower that is asset-rich — a strong debtor book, financeable stock, or plant and machinery — and a raise that is working-capital-led rather than pure cash-flow leverage. They are well-suited to event-driven ABL: funding an acquisition, MBO or refinancing where receivables and inventory can be mobilised to release availability, and they will sit alongside other lenders in a structured package. Their stated floor of around £3–5m means a £3–15m mandate sits squarely in their range, and for the lower half of that band they are one of the more credible bank-grade ABL houses rather than a clearing bank that treats sub-£15m ABL as marginal.
Where they are not the fit
They are less suited to asset-light businesses — services or IP-led companies without a substantial debtor book, stock or hard assets to secure against — where the borrowing base will not support the quantum. They are an ABL lender, not a cash-flow/unitranche house, so a sponsor seeking leverage on EBITDA with limited collateral is better served elsewhere. At the very bottom of a 3–15m raise (sub-£3m), the live product range starts around £5m, so smaller working-capital needs may fall below their structuring threshold.
On the record
Secure Trust Bank plc is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the FCA and PRA, with FCA firm reference number 204550, authorised since 01/12/2001.
Secure Trust Bank is a British retail and commercial banking group listed on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index.
STB Commercial Finance offers funding between £5 million and £50 million across invoice finance, stock & inventory finance, plant/machinery/vehicle finance, and property-secured commercial loans.
The Commercial Finance division provides flexible asset-based lending and invoice finance products ranging in size from £3m to £50m for SMEs and larger businesses, releasing up to 90% of qualifying invoices under invoice discounting.
STB Commercial Finance has provided nearly £20bn of funding to over 250 UK businesses since it was established ten years ago (in 2014), specialising in multi-asset ABL for M&A, refinancing, turnaround and other strategic events.
ABL deployment scenarios listed by STB include refinance, growth funding, PE/VC acquisitions, restructure and turnaround, MBOs/MBIs, cash-out/exits, and M&A, with the ability to work alongside a borrower's existing lenders.
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.