Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance has reported that its lending balances rose by 33% to £259m in 2019, up from £194.7m in the previous year.

The commercial finance arm of the bank provides asset-based lending and invoice finance products, ranging in size from £1m to £50m, to both SMEs and larger businesses.

Established in Manchester in 2014, the lender now also operates from offices in Leeds, Birmingham and London to offer a national service.

The lender completed a number of sizeable deals in 2019, including a £60m combined facility alongside Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) for Converse Pharma Group, a national pharmaceutical wholesaler. The funding enabled the company to invest in new, larger depots which allowed it to increase its range of products and volume of stock.

Secure Trust Bank also provided a £12m structured facility to Expert Tooling, a prime solution provider for bespoke tooling and automation systems. The company, which boasts a client list that includes Jaguar Land Rover, Aston Martin and Bentley, used the facility to fund both its receivables and work in progress, allowing it to increase its working capital.

Secure Trust Bank also recently announced it had been ranked in Great Place to Work’s list of UK’s Best Workplaces, and was one of only 162 companies to achieve this accreditation this year.

John Bevan, managing director at Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance, said: “These figures reflect a strong performance across the Commercial Finance business last year. Our continued expansion places us closer to our clients and to our introducers to support the opportunities this presents.

“During the current economic climate, we have been focussing hard on supporting our existing client base. We are also now an accredited lender through the British Business Bank for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Scheme (CLBILS) and are in an excellent position to support UK businesses by providing flexible facilities to meet their needs in the current business environment.”