The Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) has today released figures which showed a 12% growth in asset finance new business in November 2014, compared with the same month the previous year.

The annual total of new business also passed £25 billion for the first time in more than five years.

Plant and machinery finance grew by 14% in November, business equipment finance by 25%, and IT equipment finance grew by 40%.

“November was another month of solid growth for the asset finance industry, with good performances in key sectors,” said Geraldine Kilkelly, head of research and chief economist at the FLA.

“Asset finance, primarily leasing and hire purchase, is particularly popular with SMEs because the success rate on application for micro, small and medium sized businesses is the highest of all the major finance options.

“There is good news too on FLA members’ share of UK business investment, with the latest figures showing an increase to around 28% of UK investment in machinery, equipment and purchase software in Q2 and Q3 2014.”