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British Business Investments provides £12m to asset finance specialist Universal Leasing Ltd

Press release 16 May 2018

British Business Investments, the commercial arm of the British Business Bank, is investing £12m into North West-based Universal Leasing Ltd, an 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 commitment 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.

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.

Catherine Lewis La Torre CEO of British Business Investments

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.

Michael Hughes Managing Director, Universal Leasing Ltd

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.”

Further Information

Notes to editors

About British Business Investments

British Business Investments is the trading name of British Business Investments Ltd, the commercial arm of the British Business Bank. It aims to earn a commercial return by investing – through finance providers – in smaller businesses and small mid-caps, pursuing investments on a fully commercial basis without receiving any advantage from the government. Find out more at bbinv.co.uk.

British Business Investments Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of British Business Bank plc, the UK government’s economic development bank. Neither entity is authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

British Business Bank plc and its principal operating subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. A complete legal structure chart for British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries can be found on the British Business Bank plc website.

About the British Business Bank and Asset Finance

As well as supporting small Asset Finance providers through its commercial arm’s Investment programme, the British Business Bank helps slightly larger Asset Finance providers to access capital markets more cost efficiently through its ENABLE Funding programme. It also recently introduced a new asset finance variant of its flagship Enterprise Finance Guarantee programme.

The British Business Bank/ICAEW/UK Finance guide to Asset Finance for advisers and businesses is downloadable from the British Business Bank website.

British Business Investments expansion capital initiative, developed as part of its Investment Programme, enables it to support the development of diverse debt finance markets more effectively, without the need for match funding.

About Universal Leasing & Loans

Admiral Leasing & Loans (trading as Admiral Leasing and Loans) is an independent funder and has been providing equipment finance solutions for over 28 years through a network of equipment suppliers, direct to customers or through our network of brokers. We have been working with UK business mainly in the SME sector. With a solid reputation in the UK market, based upon excellent customer service levels and wide industry knowledge, we provide finance across all industry sectors. To see how we can help your business please call us on 0161 628 7008 or visit us on line at admiral-leasing.co.uk.