Bathgate Business Finance wrote £1m in new business in October 2022 from its own internal funds.

As well as brokering deals out to its panel of traditional and alternative funders, the West Kirby-based finance specialist provides loans from its own funding book, writing a total of £4.8 million to their year end September 2021.

With own-book lending, decisions are taken quickly in-house without the need to submit to credit committees that exist in some larger funders.

Gordon Andrews, Bathgate Business Finance managing director, said: “October 2022 was our best-ever month for own-book lending, writing £1 million in deals. Prior to that, our best month was £800k written in April 2021, as we were coming out of the pandemic.

“We’re extremely privileged to be able to offer clients finance from our own funds and see it as a vital tool in our armoury to support the SME marketplace. We know that often – and increasingly so in our current economic climate – strong and viable businesses will find themselves in need of urgent funding to tackle issues like cashflow challenges or unexpected bills.

“With traditional lenders seeming to be more cautious, it can take six to eight weeks to get a decision, and then this is sometimes ‘no’. This means the applicant has to go back to the drawing board. In some cases, it can have disastrous consequences for them.

“Through our own-book finance, we’re able to be more nimble and responsive and provide speedier decisions, making it a useful tool for business owners alongside wider financial planning.

“We hope that the service we offer will provide vital support to even more businesses in the region, now and through into what is set to be a challenging and uncertain new year.”