Praetura Lending exceeds £500m loan book milestone

Praetura Lending is celebrating another record year, with the combined loan book exceeding half a billion pounds, with more than 25 per cent growth in 2024.

The North West head-quartered company offers SMEs an alternative to traditional institutional lenders, providing funds between £10,000 and £35m to help businesses from a wide range of sectors meet their strategic objectives.

Following its launch in 2013, over £7.5 billion assets have been funded by Praetura Lending, a figure that has risen by 38 per cent so far this year. The number of businesses receiving funding from Praetura has grown by 21 per cent in 2024, across a broad range of industries including construction, manufacturing, transportation, wholesale and distribution, entertainment, retail and hospitality.

Comprising of five businesses: Praetura Asset Finance, Kingsway Finance, Praetura Commercial Finance, Praetura Invoice Finance and Zodeq, Praetura Lending offers a range of funding options including asset finance (hard and soft assets, including commercial and professional loans) and sales finance (asset-based lending and invoice finance). Funding can range from a £10,000 asset purchase to a £35 million ABL package to enable a MBO or MBI. An increasing number of deals written by Praetura include collaborative funding facilities provided by a combination of Praetura Lending companies.

Both Praetura Asset Finance and Kingsway Finance have exceeded annual funding level records, for the fourth consecutive year. Praetura Asset Finance has seen a 27% increase in the amount lent and Kingsway Finance have seen their year-to-date funding totals rise by 17%.

Praetura Commercial and Praetura Invoice Finance have seen a 72.5% increase in their lending portfolio.

Zodeq, the recruitment finance specialist, welcomed their 100^th new client of 2024 last month, with a seven-figure invoice finance facility.

2024 has also seen Praetura Lending open their first office based outside the North West of England, in Milton Keynes, and their workforce has been bolstered by more than a quarter just this year and now boasts over 150 team members across four offices.

Peadar O’Reilly, Praetura Lending’s CEO, said: “We are delighted to exceed this key milestone of a £500m loan book and are keen to support many more ambitious business owners with their financing needs, as we have both the capacity and appetite to double our book to £1bn+ in the coming years.”

“Praetura Lending’s record figures are proof that our relationship-led approach to funding is valued by SMEs and the brokers and advisers we work in partnership with. The sector we work in was once termed ‘alternative lending’; as bigger institutions continue to limit their provisions and accessibility, it is funding provided by companies like Praetura Lending that needs to be considered the norm. In doing so, this will broaden the range of options available to SMEs to allow those businesses to truly thrive.”