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Get my 3 quotes →Market Invoice compares the UK providers that fit this need, and you can get 3 free quotes through eCapital, our introduction partner. The fastest full-facility setups in the UK take around one working week: Close Brothers and Bibby at about 5 working days, and Ultimate Finance, which says a facility is set up within one week with funds paid within 24 hours of invoices once live. Hydr’s single-invoice product onboards in about 1 working day, but it is not a whole-ledger facility. High street banks are slowest at 10-15 days. We ranked the 20 invoice finance providers with published setup terms by setup speed and ongoing funding speed.
The fastest full-facility invoice finance setups in the UK take around one working week: Close Brothers and Bibby at about 5 working days, and Ultimate Finance within one week. More detail + scope
This page covers
All providers ranked by setup time and ongoing invoice funding speed, how to get set up faster, what documents to prepare, and what causes delays
Not covered here
Cost comparison (see cheapest guide), individual provider reviews, sector-specific guides
Providers Ranked by Speed
| # | Provider | Setup Time | Invoice Funding | Fast Track? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1= | Close Brothers | 5 days | Same day | Case by case |
| 1= | Bibby | 5 days | Same day | Case by case |
| 1= | Ultimate Finance | Within 1 week | Within 24 hours | Not published |
| 4 | IGF | 5 days | Next day | Yes |
| 5 | Skipton | 7 days | Next day | No |
| 6 | Aldermore | 7 days | Same day | No |
| 7 | Novuna | 7 days | Same day | No |
| 8 | Secure Trust | 10 days | Same day | No |
| 9-12 | High street banks | 10-15 days | Next day | No |
How to Get Set Up Faster
The speed of setup depends more on YOU than the provider. Have these ready before you apply and you'll hit the shortest possible timeline:
- 1. Aged debtor report - current, showing all outstanding invoices by customer and age
- 2. Last 6 months bank statements - digital PDFs, not screenshots
- 3. Sample invoices - 3-5 recent invoices to show the format and terms
- 4. Customer list - names, addresses, estimated annual billing per customer
- 5. Latest accounts - filed or management accounts (startups: a cash flow forecast)
Missing any of these adds 2-5 days while the provider chases you for them. Have everything in a folder before you start the application and you'll get to first funding faster.
For a detailed timeline of the setup process, see our setup speed guide.
Founder & Managing Director, Muswell Rose, founder and PSC of Best Business Loans Ltd
Adam is the founder and managing director of Muswell Rose and a founder of Best Business Loans Ltd, the company behind Market Invoice. He spent over three years as managing director of Penny, a UK invoice finance business, and his career runs through insurance, mortgages, commercial finance and fintech lending. He writes the Market Invoice library.
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