Time Finance plc
AIM-listed independent SME lender offering invoice finance, hard asset finance, and secured business loans to UK businesses, focused on the sub-£3.5m ticket.
What they do
Time Finance provides multi-product commercial finance to UK SMEs across three core lines: invoice finance (factoring and confidential discounting, up to 90% of debtor book, facilities up to £3.5m); hard asset finance (hire purchase and finance lease on plant, machinery, commercial vehicles, and agricultural equipment); and secured business loans (£50k–£500k, typically property-secured). The group operates on its own balance sheet, funded in part by a £65m NatWest invoice finance facility and a £64m British Business Bank asset finance facility. As at 31 May 2026 the gross lending book stood at £250m — the twentieth consecutive quarter of growth — with hard asset finance at £129m and invoice finance at £78m (both growing roughly 20–22% year-on-year). The firm works both direct and through the intermediary/broker channel, and is a member of NACFB, FLA, and UK Finance.
Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise
Time Finance is well-suited to lower-mid-market businesses that need an ABL or invoice finance facility in the £250k–£3.5m range and value a lender that can combine products — for example, an asset finance line alongside an invoice discounting facility — under a single relationship. They are a credible first call for asset-heavy businesses in manufacturing, transport, construction, or agriculture where the underlying collateral is hard equipment. For recruitment, security, or wholesale businesses needing a debtor-book facility with a minimum £500k annual turnover, their confidential invoice discounting product is a practical option. The intermediary channel is well-established, making them accessible via most commercial finance brokers.
Where they are not the fit
Time Finance is not a fit for facilities above £3.5m on the invoice finance side, or where a borrower needs a leveraged or acquisition loan structure rather than asset or receivables security. Their secured business loan ceiling of £500k means they are not the counterparty for the upper end of Solon's 3–15m mandate unless the structure is multi-product and ABL-led. They do not provide mezzanine, unitranche, or unsecured term loan structures. Businesses without tangible assets or a B2B invoice book are unlikely to qualify.
Published terms
- Pricing
- Not published
- Speed to terms
- Up to 90% of an invoice within 24 hours of it being raised; onboarding not quantified
- Sponsored or sponsorless
- Both (predominantly owner-managed SME; supports MBO/MBI/turnaround)
- Where they lend
- (UK-wide; offices Bath HQ, Reading, Cheshire)
- How they decide
- Own-book AIM-listed lender; regional invoice finance sales teams (North/South/SW & Wales) feed delegated underwriting; broker- and adviser-originated. 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
Time Finance plc 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 Time Finance plc lends, but which of these would own it.
Invoice finance (factoring / discounting / selective)
- Facility
- up to £3.5m
- Security
- Receivables
- Covenants
- Springing covenant, tested only when a trigger is hit
- Funds
- Growth · MBO · Refinance · Turnaround
- Rules out
- No B2B receivables or consumer-only
Asset finance (hard assets - HP / lease, blend with IF)
- Security
- Fixed charge
- Funds
- Growth · MBO · Refinance
Limits that apply across the firm
Stated limits, taken from Time Finance plc’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, consumer retail no b2b, crypto, gambling or weapons
How they sit against the category
- Its published ceiling is £3.5m; 29 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 Time Finance plc write?
Published facilities run up to £3.5m. A band is what a lender states it will do, not what it will do on a given credit.
How quickly does Time Finance plc move?
Up to 90% of an invoice within 24 hours of it being raised; onboarding not quantified. Published timetables describe a clean case; anything unusual in the security or the structure adds to them.
Does Time Finance plc lend to companies without a private-equity sponsor?
Yes. Time Finance plc 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 Time Finance plc lend?
Time Finance plc lends in (UK-wide; offices Bath HQ, Reading, Cheshire).
What covenants does Time Finance plc 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
Time Finance plc is registered in England and Wales, company number 05845866, registered address St James House, The Square, Lower Bristol Road, Bath, BA2 3BH. Formerly 1PM plc, renamed December 2020.
Admitted to AIM in August 2006; ticker TIME on the London Stock Exchange.
Gross lending book reached a record £250m as at 31 May 2026 — the twentieth consecutive quarter of growth — up from £217m at the same point in 2025.
Invoice Finance lending book stood at £78m (20% YoY growth) and hard asset finance at £129m (22% YoY growth) as at 28 February 2026.
Maximum individual Invoice Finance facility size is £3.5m per deal; Invoice Finance advance rate up to 90% of outstanding invoice value.
Secured business loans offered in the range £50,000–£500,000, typically property-secured.
£65m back-to-back invoice finance facility agreed with NatWest (October 2024); £64m asset finance facility with the British Business Bank.
Member of NACFB, FLA (Finance and Leasing Association), and UK Finance. Regulated for consumer credit activities under FCA oversight; specific FRN should be verified directly on the FCA Financial Services Register.
Sources: timefinance.com · theintermediary.co.uk · leasinglife.com
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.