Ash Chopra

Asset-Based Lending in the UK: Why 2025 could be a Breakout Year? I was writing a referee comment about an ABL for an Awards event today and it struck me the ABL landscape could really grow alot more. ABL is a strategic financing tool for UK businesses—especially in special situations and restructuring contexts. I am not sure enough people know this. Key Drivers Behind ABL Growth: -The global ABL market grew from $571.6 billion in 2023 to $663.5 billion in 2024, and is projected to reach $1.65 trillion by 2030, driven by a 16.4% CAGR. -Tighter credit conditions and high interest rates are pushing firms to unlock liquidity from existing assets. -Corporate restructuring and turnaround scenarios are increasingly reliant on ABL where traditional financing falls short. -Technological innovation—from AI-driven underwriting to digital asset evaluation—is streamlining access and reducing risk. -Sectoral variation: Lending to larger UK companies rose by 8%, while SME asset finance grew just 1%, reflecting economic pressures and cautious borrowing. How ABL can grow further in the UK: -Broader Asset Inclusion: Expanding collateral types to include further intangible assets, green assets, and IP can unlock new borrower segments. -Digital Transformation: Leveraging AI, blockchain, and data analytics for faster, more transparent asset evaluations and risk assessments. -Government Support: Initiatives like the British Business Bank’s Growth Guarantee Scheme are enhancing access for SMEs and mid-market firms. -Event-Driven Financing: ABL is well-suited for M&A, MBOs, MBIs, and restructuring—areas where traditional lenders often hesitate. -Education : I am still helping CFO's understand what ABL can do for them. Applying an ABL lend to an EBITDA loan-based projection just won't cut it anymore and really miss's a trick. -Independent Lenders & Challenger Banks: These players are driving innovation and flexibility, representing a sizeable portion of market growth. ABL is no longer just a niche solution—it’s becoming central to how businesses manage working capital, navigate uncertainty, and fund growth. If you own a mid-market business, I urge you to really look at this concept for finance. Andrew Head of Special Situations and Restructuring S&W Turnaround Management Association (TMA UK) R3 Association of Business Recovery Professionals The IFT #ABL #Restructuring #SpecialSituations #UKFinance #WorkingCapital #Turnaround #PrivateCredit #2025Trends #AlternativeFinance #GrowthGuaranteeScheme Independent Growth Finance (IGF) Close Brothers Leumi UK Arbuthnot Latham Ultimate Finance Secure Trust Bank Business & Commercial Finance Cynergy Bank Bibby Financial Services Metro Bank (UK)

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Business confidence rises despite drop in economic optimism.   Our August Business Barometer, published today, shows UK business confidence rose slightly this month, marking the fourth consecutive monthly increase. This improvement was driven by a five-point rise in companies’ confidence in their trading prospects to 63% – the highest level since 2014 – while hiring intentions strengthened for the fourth month in a row, despite ongoing cost pressures.   Economic optimism eased slightly, falling three points to 44%, but remains above the long-term average. Confidence gains were led by manufacturing, which reached its highest level in a decade, and retail, while construction and services saw declines.   As always, we’re here to support businesses as they navigate both opportunities and challenges ahead. You can read the full report below.   Lloyds Business & Commercial | Paul Kempster | Caroline Haynes | Ruchir Rodrigues | Kim Kinnaird | David Thomasson | Chris Loring

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What is an investment bank worth? This deal slipped a little under my radar but I noticed it when reviewing last month's transactions on the platform and it sprung up in The Times too. Evercore has paid £146 million for Robey Warshaw, a boutique investment bank that definitely falls into the 'elephant hunter' category, advising on monster deals that are usually the preserve of the bulge brackets (Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Citi and Credit Suisse). Recent mandates include the disposal of Reckitt Benckiser's Essential Home business to Advent for $4.8 billion and the acquisition of Keywords Studios by EQT Group for $2.8 billion. As you would expect with a low volume operator in a cyclical sector, revenues fluctuate but most of what does come in accrues to the partners (there were 5, including George Osborne). Last year £86 million in revenue translated into profit before drawings of £70m (actual drawings in the year totalled £43m). The previous year the equivalent numbers were £46m (revenue), £26m (profit) and £25m (drawings). Definitely not shabby. Article below (ignore the huge fish, it's not relevant). #corporatefinance #mergersandacquisitions

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New research from Barclays reveals that the UK’s investment gap has grown by over 30% in just two years with 15m UK adults now holding over £610bn of ‘possible investments’ in cash. Investing can deliver better financial outcomes for individuals and supports economic growth. The growing investment gap emphasises that significant efforts are still required to transform the UK into a nation of investors. In recent months, we have seen collaborative action and positive steps from regulators and policymakers – the Advice Guidance Boundary Review and the retail investment reforms announced at Mansion House present a unique opportunity to reshape the UK’s investment culture.  The task now is to turn these reforms into lasting behavioural change, helping savers feel confident, supported and better able to understand risk. That focus on building confidence will be central to industry's work as part of the UK’s new retail investment campaign. Read the full report below ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/egMpcSpx

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The UK Government are trying to persuade UK savers to move out of cash into UK Equities which makes no sense for several reasons: The market is at all-time highs and many cash savers are unsuitable to take Equity risk. - 70% of revenue from the FTSE 100 are international. - 20% of revenue is Emerging Market. So very little would impact the UK domestic economy. The UK stock market is dominated by 4 sectors: Banks, Pharma, Telcos and Oil. No Tech so the UK has underperformed for decades. The one Tech stock ARM which was owned privately by the Japanese company SoftBank was listed in the US. There are pockets of creativity in Tech and Healthcare but they are small and bought by International Companies or Private Equity. Manufacturing was killed by cheaper competitors. Finance was killed by Brexit. All that is left is the resilience of the people trying to overcome the system. #unitedkingdom

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You may have heard about the recent Inheritance Tax (IHT) changes following last year's Budget. Here's what you need to know in less than 60 seconds 👇

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In the 35 years I’ve worked in corporate finance, one of the most common questions I end up discussing with Entrepreneurs and founders is whether to sell their businesses and if so when! Some are focused on managing succession either within their families or by securing external management talent to take the business forward. However there is often a desire to crystallise some value - especially in light of the recent changes to Inheritance tax which can bring the value of companies into tax when handed down to the next generation. It’s often an emotional decision because of the immense passion and effort that has been invested in building the business. Many entrepreneurs find that part of their self worth is wrapped up with their role in the businesses they have founded and aren't quite ready to step down. I often hear owners say that they can’t think of anywhere better to invest their money than their own company. So an option many look at is to realise a proportion of the value of the business by taking on a private equity investor to enable them to cash in from a sale of a stake (minority or majority) while also maybe raising a war chest for the business to grow by acquisition. Realising the cash that secures their family's financial future as well as creating a growth fund for the business with a new financial partner (who can add some expertise) can often mean that they are bolder with their plans to expand the business than they would have been if they still had all their wealth tied up in the company.   These ‘cash out’ PE deals still involve a transfer of significant elements of control to the investor and so shouldn’t be done lightly, and a meaningful amount of money should be taken off the table to make it worth doing the deal! These deals can often be an alternative to selling up completely to a trade buyer at least for two or three years. A cash out PE deal is not everybody’s preferred choice - some entrepreneurs love being in charge and aren’t built to work with (or for!) a financial investor. A Private Equity investor will usually bring some change to the business - maybe strengthening the management team, introducing more challenge and the feel of the business can evolve - but it is often a decent option to have on the table. We often run ‘twin track’ sale processes where the PE cash out option is considered as well as the trade exit route. In fact I would say a significant majority of our sale process include PE as an option even if a trade sale is preferred since it broadens the field of buyers and creates competitive tension. Taking on a Private Equity Investor has several complexities and I really would recommend that anyone considering doing so take Corporate Finance and legal advice. These deals are our bread and butter at Alvarez and Marsal Corporate Finance and we are delighted to chat through how they work with anyone considering this option. #Entrepreneurs #PrivateEquity  #AlvarezAndMarsal #CorporateFinance

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📰 So much SME news flow recently ... its great to see movement..... 👉 My take for UK businesses 💪 RESILIENCE is the new growth strategy. And it’s no surprise .... With rising costs, late payments and borrowing challenges, more business owners are telling us they are protecting their cash flow and staying agile rather than chasing aggressive expansion. So, I was encouraged to see the UK Government’s latest announcement: a £4.5bn injection into the British Business Bank, with extended support for working capital through the Growth Guarantee scheme. At Capitalise, we’ve long believed that access to funding shouldn't just support growth, it should strengthen the core of a business. Whether it’s financing a new van, unlocking cash tied in invoices, or building a buffer with a credit facility, smart business finance is a key part of staying competitive. I’ve shared some thoughts on this shift in our latest piece, along with how business owners can turn RESILIENCE into advantage. You can read it here: 👉 https://lnkd.in/eqk9QRGB #businessfunding #businesscreditscores #businessowners #accountants

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Tesco’s share price (c. 440p) is now the highest it has been for almost 12 years! In the last 3 years the share price has more than doubled. The killer graph below visualises how c.£70bn in sales converts to £1.6bn in net profit last financial year as the retailer continues to go from strength to strength. ➡ Strong Financial Performance Q1 2025: • Group like-for-like sales up 4.6% • UK food sales +5.1%, non-food +6.2% • Online sales +11.5% ➡ Key highlights (UK) • LFL sales grew by 4.0%, with growth both in stores and online • Volume growth was ahead of expectations • Market share grew +67bps year-on-year to 28.3%, marking 21 consecutive four-week periods of growth by year-end, and the highest since 2016 • Clothing LFL sales grew 3.0%, driven by womenswear, F&F Active, and F&F Edit ranges • Online sales grew 10.2%, including c.3ppts from Tesco Whoosh. Sales from Whoosh almost doubled YoY, average online orders per week up 10.8% year-on-year to 1.3m. Here's why I believe Tesco are in such a commanding position: 📲 Data Monetisation Tesco is orchestrating the UK's largest closed-loop retail ecosystem. With 23M Clubcard households, they've created a virtuous cycle: customer data drives personalisation, which increases engagement, which generates more data. Their partnership with dunnhumby transforms this into a powerful advertiser proposition - true closed-loop measurement across online and offline touchpoints. This is retail media 2.0. What's more, retail media typically delivers 60-70% margins, compared to traditional grocery retail's 2-5%. By building this high-margin revenue stream, built on strong tech underpinnings, their media tech proposition has become a key strategic asset boosting their valuation. It's a page out of the Amazon/Walmart's media businesses playbook where this part of the business is valued at multiples of their retail operations. 🎯 Core Business Focus Over the last few years, the business has developed strategic discipline. Tesco has systematically simplified its business model - exiting non-core markets and doubling down on what they do best: food retail with a magic sprinkle of data. It’s been fascinating to see how sometimes doing less allows businesses to achieve more. 🤖 AI-Powered Customer Centricity The deployment of AI to analyse shopping patterns is providing a tactical advantage. Tesco has "weaponised" their data, and as the benefits of GenAI are leveraged even further, it feels to me that they will double down on this opportunity. By using predictive analytics to anticipate customer needs and suggest relevant products, Tesco is moving from reactive to predictive retail. In my view, the next stage of personalisation. These results showcase Tesco's ability to balance traditional retail strength with digital innovation while maintaining strong market leadership. Learn more about Retail Economics and see how our insights help business gain clarity and actionable insights.

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