With the announcement this month that the government are considering scrapping grants for research and development and replacing them with loans, at least asset finance is providing a boost to UK businesses.
According to the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) asset finance funding is continuing to grow at a rapid rate with August seeing the twenty third consecutive month of growth. Asset finance new business increased by 5% on the previous month which shows that more and more businesses are considering asset finance as a realistic alternative to other forms of business funding.
The percentage of business investment in machinery, equipment and software financed by asset finance currently stands at 32% according to the latest figures available.
Geraldine Kilkelly, Head of Research and Chief Economist at the FLA, said
“The revised ONS business investment figures show that the industry’s contribution to the funding of investment is much greater than previous data suggested. The percentage of UK investment in machinery, equipment and software has grown from a low of just over a quarter in 2010 to almost a third in the year to June 2015.”
Aircraft, ships and rolling stock finance and IT equipment has seen by far the biggest increase in asset funding with 119% and 81% increases compared to August 2014.