The hum of UK boardrooms seldom pauses for finance houses quietly redefining sector norms, yet a recent strategic pivot at a Bath-based specialist lender has done just that. Beneath the surface of familiar metrics lies a deliberate shift that has positioned this firm to catch the eye of discerning investors looking beyond headline figures.
From its inception, the company’s four-year blueprint centred on doubling down where others might retreat, favouring the pillars of invoice and asset finance over more volatile funding streams. This meant steering almost all new commitments into secured products, a choice that, while resolutely conservative on paper, quietly set the stage for something far more dynamic. By the close of the year ended 31 May 2025, that strategy had delivered an 8 per cent expansion of its gross lending book to £217 million, marking yet another chapter in a 16-quarter stretch of uninterrupted lending increases. The lifting of these secured volumes has not merely added scale; it has bolstered the firm’s resilience by ensuring that three-quarters of its overall commitments rest on collateralised foundations.
Yet the story extends deeper than balance-sheet heft. Revenues advanced by 11 per cent to £37.0 million, outstripping the wider market’s conservative estimates, while pre-tax profits swelled by 34 per cent to £7.9 million. That profit margin climb, advancing by three percentage points to just over 21 per cent, underlines how a focus on higher-quality, secured deals can translate into cleaner earnings and greater operating leverage. Importantly, credit quality held steady even as volumes rose: arrears lingered at a modest 5 per cent of the outstanding book, and write-offs remained contained at 1 per cent, painting the picture of disciplined underwriting rather than reckless expansion.
This bespoke funding model has also fed a 14 per cent uplift in net tangible assets, now totalling £44.1 million, and nudged deferred income ahead by 5 per cent to £26.7 million. Together, these metrics offer a window into both the cushion beneath the group’s equity base and the visibility of future revenue streams. Complementing this balance-sheet robustness, the lender wrapped the year with more than £90 million of headroom across its committed facilities, ensuring room to manoeuvre as it embarks on the next phase of its growth journey.
Far from resting on past successes, the board has already set the compass towards a fresh three-year programme through to May 2028. The emphasis on secured lending remains core, but the ambition is also to exploit an evolving SME landscape where businesses increasingly seek tailored finance solutions that blend speed with security. The group’s regional footprint, from Bath to Manchester, Reading to Warrington—provides local reach, while a unified operating platform keeps decision-making lean. This dual focus on agility and granularity positions the lender to capture market share at a time when larger competitors wrestle with legacy systems and smaller peers chase volume at the expense of risk controls.
For long-term investors, the tale here is not about a lender briefly riding a favourable credit cycle; it is about a company deliberately reshaping its DNA to thrive in an environment where collateral strength and margin resilience command a premium. As UK SMEs confront tighter lines on bank credit and mounting cost pressures, those delivering bespoke, secured facilities with swift execution stand to deepen client ties and lock in higher-return relationships. The Bath-based specialist has woven this strategy into its core, and the resulting financial momentum, backed by consistent credit performance, lays a foundation more durable than most in its peer group.
This company originates, structures and manages secured finance solutions, primarily through invoice financing and asset-based lending, for small and medium-sized enterprises across the UK, harnessing collateral to mitigate credit risk while offering tailored funding options. Its integrated platform and strategic emphasis on secured products underpin a lending book that has grown every quarter for four years, accompanied by rising revenues, widening margins and stable credit metrics. A fresh three-year plan now seeks to build on this disciplined approach, aiming to deliver sustained value for shareholders by marrying conservative risk controls with selective market expansion.
Time Finance plc (LON:TIME) is an AIM-listed business specialising in the provision or arrangement of funding solutions to UK businesses seeking to access the finance they need to realise their growth plans. Time Finance can fund businesses or arrange funding with their trusted partners through Asset Finance, Invoice Finance, Business Loans, Vehicle Finance or Asset Based Lending.
