The specialist asset-based lender grew its loan book to £283m, having provided more than £125m in new funding across 1,200 new facilities throughout the 12-month period despite turbulent economic conditions.

During 2022, the lender also reported a 26% uptick in new business compared to 2021, while its asset finance business alone grew by 11% to hit £51m.

Bridging volumes, meanwhile, rebounded strongly in the second half of the year, with new business volumes for bridging finance up by 87% compared to the same period in 2021.

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Josh Levy, CEO at Ultimate Finance (pictured above), said “2022 marked our 20th anniversary and we are proud to have supported over 3,000 businesses with tailored funding facilities.

“These record performances across all areas of our business are a demonstration that our strategy continues to deliver strong results and we remain committed to supporting the ambitions of SMEs and property investors through the challenges ahead.

“SMEs are the first to experience difficulties accessing finance during times of economic volatility, yet by virtue of their size rely disproportionately on external finance for cashflow and investment opportunities.

“Against a backdrop of rising interest rates, inflationary pressures and the cost of living crisis, we have continued to accelerate our origination levels at a time when credit conditions elsewhere have been tightening.”