Ultimate Finance posts record £430m loan book after strongest-ever H1

Ultimate Finance has reported record first-half growth for 2026, reaching a loan book of £430 million after delivering £153 million of new facilities during the first six months of the year.

The specialist lender said the performance represents its strongest-ever first half, with the loan book increasing 21% year-on-year and new facilities rising 22% compared with H1 2025. Growth was recorded across all three core product lines – asset finance, working capital and bridging finance.

At the end of June, the group’s loan book was evenly split between Working Capital and Asset Finance at £165 million each, with Bridging Finance accounting for the remaining £100 million.

Asset Finance delivered the strongest rate of growth, with its loan book increasing 30% year-on-year to £165 million. The division completed £65 million of new business during the first half, up 31% on the same period last year, while June marked a record month for new business. The lender also increased its maximum asset finance facility size to £3 million, enabling introducers to support SMEs with larger funding requirements.

Working Capital also continued to expand, with its loan book rising 19% year-on-year to £165 million. New facilities totalled £38 million, up 10% on H1 2025, driven by larger average facility sizes, which increased from around £500,000 to £679,000. During the period, Ultimate Finance enhanced its proposition by extending cashflow loan terms to five years and increasing advances to up to 50% against combined invoice finance funding lines.

Meanwhile, Bridging Finance delivered £50 million of new business during the first half, an increase of 19% year-on-year, with its loan book growing to £100 million. The business also broadened its offering through the launch of a new Semi-Commercial Bridging Loan, providing funding of up to £4 million for mixed residential and commercial properties.

Alongside its commercial growth, Ultimate Finance continued to invest in its people, technology and operational capability. During the first half, the business welcomed 21 new colleagues, including Kareena Talbot as Head of Operations for Bridging Finance, Simon Smith as Regional Director for Bridging Finance in Scotland, Lisa Clarke as Working Capital Relationship Manager and Hayley Adcock as Head of Business Support within Asset Finance.

Chief Executive Josh Levy said the results reflected continued investment across the business and the strength of its introducer relationships.

“We’ve delivered our strongest first half yet, with £153m of new facilities and a record loan book of £430m. That reflects the consistency of our execution, the strength of our introducer partnerships and the progress we’ve made in developing our product propositions.

“We’ve continued investing in our product propositions, our people, our technology and our service delivery, so introducers can support more clients with funding that fits.”

Levy added that the business had also received external recognition for its performance, including four shortlist nominations at the Finance Connect Summer Awards and his own recognition as CEO of the Year.

“While the CEO of the Year award is presented to me personally, I see it as recognition of our team, our culture and what we have achieved together. We’ve also delivered record client advocacy scores, with an overall NPS of 85, up from 79 last year, and our continued industry-leading 5/5 Trustpilot rating based on over 1,000 customer reviews.

“Our purpose is simple: to fund the ambitions of UK SMEs and property investors. This performance shows we’re doing that at greater scale, and we enter the second half with a clear ambition, to remain the funding partner of choice for introducers and the businesses they support.”