Latest figures from by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show 6% growth in asset finance new business (primarily leasing and hire purchase) in May, compared with the same month in 2014.

IT equipment finance saw growth of 39% in May, while in the same period, plant and machinery finance and car finance grew by 6% and 21% respectively.

Asset finance in May totalled £2,151 billion.

Geraldine Kilkelly, head of research and chief economist at the FLA, said: “The asset finance market has recorded its strongest start to a year since the financial crisis, with new business up by 16% in the first five months of 2015.

“Recent research by Oxford Economics showed just how important the asset finance industry is to the UK economy.  In 2014, it funded almost 28% of all UK investment in ICT equipment, software, transport equipment and other machinery and supported 84,000 UK jobs.”