Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance
The asset-based lending arm of Secure Trust Bank PLC, a PRA-authorised UK bank, providing multi-asset ABL and invoice finance to mid-market companies and private-equity-backed situations.
What they do
Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance is the asset-based lending division of Secure Trust Bank PLC, the LSE-listed (ticker STB), PRA-authorised retail and commercial bank headquartered in Solihull. The division, established in 2014, structures facilities against a blend of trade receivables, stock and inventory, plant, machinery and vehicles, and commercial property, often combined in a single multi-asset facility. It serves both established SMEs and larger mid-market businesses, and is an active funder of event-driven situations: acquisitions, refinancings, MBOs/MBIs, turnaround and restructuring, and private-equity-backed transactions. The business operates a relationship-led model with direct access to decision-makers and explicitly funds alongside a borrower's existing lenders where required.
Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise
They fit the upper end of a 3–15m raise where the borrower is asset-rich — meaningful debtor book, stock, or plant — and a cash-flow-only lender would struggle. They are particularly well-suited to event-driven working-capital needs (acquisition support, refinancing a stretched incumbent, funding an MBO, or backing a turnaround), and to PE-sponsored deals given their stated relationships with 20+ private equity houses. Where a deal needs availability driven by collateral rather than EBITDA multiples, and the borrower values a single bank that can fold multiple asset classes into one structure, STB CF sits squarely in frame.
Where they are not the fit
Their headline ABL range starts around 5m, so the smallest end of a 3–15m raise (a clean 3–4m facility) may sit below their typical structuring effort or be better served by a focused invoice-finance house. They are an asset-based lender, not a cash-flow or unitranche provider: an asset-light services or software borrower with strong recurring revenue but little to secure against is not their natural fit. They are also not the right port for sponsorless growth-equity-style debt where there is no collateral to anchor availability, nor for borrowers wanting a covenant-light, EBITDA-multiple structure.
Published terms
- Pricing
- Invoice finance service charge 'from 0.6%', advance up to 90%; full ABL margin/discount grid not published
- Speed to terms
- Not published
- Sponsored or sponsorless
- Both - explicitly funds private equity/VC acquisitions, MBO/MBI, cash-out, M&A, refinance, restructure & turnaround, growth
- Where they lend
- UK-wide via regional teams (Leeds/NE, Midlands, SW & Wales, national)
- How they decide
- Dedicated STB CF team with regional MDs (North, Midlands, South West & Wales); delegated authority not published
- Security
- A borrowing base over receivables, inventory and plant
- 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.
What rules a deal out
Stated limits, taken from Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance’s own published criteria. A limit is where a lender starts from, not where it always ends: several of these move on a strong enough credit.
- Pure property-trading routed to separate STB Real Estate Finance line
- No appetite in adult, crypto, gambling or weapons
How they sit against the category
- Its published ceiling of £50m is among the 4 highest of the 40 asset-based lenders here.
- 11 of the 40 publish an indicative price at all; it is one of them.
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 Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance write?
Published facilities run £5m to £50m. A band is what a lender states it will do, not what it will do on a given credit.
What security does Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance take?
On the published terms, a borrowing base over receivables, inventory and plant. What a lender takes on a given facility is set in the documents, not by a published stance.
Does Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance lend to companies without a private-equity sponsor?
Yes. Secure Trust Bank Commercial 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 Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance lend?
UK-wide via regional teams (Leeds/NE, Midlands, SW & Wales, national).
What covenants does Secure Trust Bank Commercial 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
Secure Trust Bank PLC is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the FCA and PRA, firm reference number 204550, authorised since 1 December 2001; registered at Yorke House, Arleston Way, Solihull B90 4LH.
Secure Trust Bank is listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker STB) and is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index; it is headquartered in Solihull.
STB Commercial Finance provides four primary ABL products — invoice finance, stock and inventory finance, plant/machinery/vehicle finance, and commercial loans secured against property — with funding in the range of £5 million to £50 million.
The division states it builds long-term relationships and can work alongside a borrower's existing lenders, supporting refinance, growth, PE/VC acquisitions and investments, restructure and turnaround, MBOs/MBIs, investor or management exits, and M&A.
STB Commercial Finance was established in 2014; by its tenth anniversary it had provided nearly £20 billion of funding to over 250 UK businesses and maintained relationships with over 20 private equity houses, per Managing Director John Bevan.
STB Commercial Finance reached the £1bn lending milestone, underscoring the scale of its asset-based lending book.
Sources: securetrustbank.com · marketinvoice.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.