Leasing and commercial loan firm gets £12m backing

The commercial arm of the British Business Bank is investing £12m into North West-based Universal Leasing.

British Business Investments is investing in the independent asset finance specialist which trades under the Admiral Leasing brand.

The investment is expected to double Admiral’s leasing and commercial loan capacity, allowing it to support more smaller businesses accessing asset finance as part of their growth plans over the next five years.

The £12m investment is being made under the Structured Capital Solutions facility within the commercial arm’s Investment Programme.
The programme helps widen the choice of funding smaller UK businesses can find on the market, and has now committed £700m to providers of smaller business finance.

Catherine Lewis La Torre, chief executive, of British Business Investments, said: “As the commercial arm of the British Business Bank, we support financial innovation and diversity in asset finance.

“Our Structured Capital Solutions facility – part of our Investment Programme – allows finance specialists to unlock real growth, enabling them to provide significant additional funding for smaller businesses in the UK.

“We look forward to working with Universal Leasing Ltd over the next five years to help those businesses get the finance they need.”

Michael Hughes, Managing Director, ‎Universal Leasing Ltd, said: “We are delighted to have secured this additional funding and expansion capital facility from British Business Investments.

“This combined facility will allow us to double the amount of funding we can make available to our varied SME customer base to support them with their future equipment and working capital requirements.

“This innovative product from British Business Investments is a great example of government supporting lending to UK SMEs and will help us continue our rapid growth.”