Time Finance: products, terms and eligibility

Time Finance is a UK provider of secured business loans. The legal entity named on its site is Time Finance plc, company number 05845866. It is based in Bath. It gives its founding year as 1998.

Time Finance traces its origins to December 1998, when Onepm Finance was incorporated. 1pm plc was admitted to AIM in August 2006. It rebranded from 1pm plc to Time Finance plc in December 2020. Its site lists acquisitions including Academy Leasing (2015), Bradgate Business Finance (2016), Intelligent Loans (2017), Gener8 Finance and Positive Cashflow Finance (2017) and CarFinance2U (2017). The head office is in Bath.

In its own words on scale:

• Says it has lent over £217m to UK SMEs (figure on its site, dated June 2025).
• Says it arranged over £96m of new funding in the financial year ending May 2025.

Everything on this page comes from what Time Finance publishes itself. We show the date we last checked it, and we do not rate or rank lenders.

Time Finance publishes 3 products for UK businesses. The table above gives the amounts and terms as it states them.

• Secured business loans: Monthly repayments; secured against collateral, usually property; offered with an invoice finance facility.
• Asset finance (hire purchase and finance lease): Hire purchase: option to own the asset at the end. Finance lease: asset usually not owned at the end.
• Invoice finance: Advance against unpaid invoices, settled as customers pay.

Secured business loans

A loan backed by an asset such as property, from £50,000 to £500,000 depending on eligibility and collateral. Offered on short or long terms with monthly repayments tailored to the borrower.

Asset finance (hire purchase and finance lease)

Under hire purchase, a business pays an initial deposit and fixed monthly payments and can own the asset at the end. Under a finance lease it rents the asset over a fixed term and can return it or arrange a new agreement. Time Finance buys the equipment on the client’s behalf after documents are signed. It funds hard and soft assets such as machinery, commercial vehicles, IT and shop fit-outs.

Invoice finance

Businesses selling to other businesses on credit terms can borrow up to 90% of invoice value. Offered as factoring (with outsourced credit control) or confidential invoice discounting (the business keeps credit control). Consumer invoices are not accepted.

Time Finance says its finance is used for:

• Equipment or machinery investment
• Premises or operations expansion
• Improving working capital
• Recruitment and staffing
• Spreading asset costs into monthly payments

Sectors and business types it says it funds:

• Manufacturing
• Recruitment
• Construction
• Transport
• Agriculture
• Printing

Time Finance publishes these criteria. Meeting them does not mean an application will be accepted: every lender makes its own decision.

• UK SMEs, from start-ups to established firms.
• Secured loans need collateral, usually property.
• Secured loans are offered together with an invoice finance facility.

Time Finance describes its process like this:

1. A broker or the business submits a proposal.
2. Time Finance reviews and underwrites it.
3. Documentation is issued, signed and returned.
4. Time Finance buys the asset and monthly payments begin.

Every application is subject to status and the lender’s own criteria at the time.

A secured business loan is borrowing backed by a charge over property or other assets. Security can mean a larger loan or a longer term than unsecured lending, but the asset is at risk if repayments are not kept up.

Lenders value the security and usually lend up to a set share of that value, so allow for valuation and legal work. Read how to compare business loan lenders before weighing a secured offer against an unsecured one.

Points Time Finance publishes that are worth knowing:

• Secured business loans are backed by collateral, usually property.
• Loans are offered in conjunction with Time Finance’s invoice finance, not as a stand-alone product.
• Lending to limited companies and commercial mortgages are stated as not FCA regulated.
• Also offers vehicle finance and multi-product facilities.

Time Finance’s site states: “Time Loan Finance Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, under firm reference number 710117, for mortgage broking activities. Commercial Mortgages, Property Development, Buy-To-Let Mortgages and Lending to limited companies is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.”

Protections differ by borrower type and loan size. Most lending to limited companies is not regulated consumer credit, so read the agreement and ask the lender what applies to you.

Other providers of secured business loans with profiles here include Together, 4Syte and Mercantile Trust. Each profile uses that lender’s own published terms.

The full list, grouped by product type, is in our directory of UK business lenders.

Capzy is a credit broker, not a lender, and gets paid by the lender. One application lets your business compare options across lenders, so you can weigh this kind of facility against the alternatives. You can check your funding options with a soft search that does not affect your credit score. A full application to a lender may involve a hard search, and any offer is subject to status and lender criteria.