Hospitality, leisure and construction lead demand for business finance, a survey from Asset Advantage found.
Nearly half (47%) of commercial brokers said construction was driving demand for business finance, with hospitality and leisure close behind at 45%.
More than a third (36%) pointed to manufacturing, while professional services were picked by 21%.
Sectors such as science and technology (6%) and agriculture (7%) were much lower.
Gary Thompson (pictured), sales director at Asset Advantage, said: “Commercial finance brokers tell us that businesses in these key sectors do not intend to stand still – they are actively looking to secure funding to push ahead with their expansion and investment plans.
“While this may not be the case for all with softer demand in some sectors, the consensus is that SMEs are moving forward with their growth plans and are looking to build long-term resilience – further proving the need to support commercial brokers with flexible funding options that are sector and asset agnostic and can move at the pace of businesses.
“In a market where many funders are more risk adverse and restrictive in lending and criteria, it’s really important that commercial brokers have access to strategic funding partners who are open minded and forward thinking, and willing to really understand cases put before them.”
Thompson added: “That has always been our aim and ambition at Asset Advantage and likely why we continue to see persistent demand for flexible funding through our broker partners.”
