Posted: Monday, 7 July 2025 @ 11:38
Since Rivers was established in 2010, we have evolved, bringing in new funding products and services, and reaching much higher levels of lending.
However, alongside that growth, we have also remained true to our roots. Crucially, that means that our funding solutions are geared towards proactively supporting small and medium-sized businesses and we continue to work to meet the needs of SMEs.
A key illustration of that continuity in action, is that we still provide small ticket soft asset leasing - something that has become increasingly unusual in the market.
Rivers began with asset finance
Small ticket soft asset leasing is very much where we started as a business. We have a strong and proud history of working with the spa and salon sector, and we do a lot of work with businesses on IT equipment - although those are just examples - we are non-sector specific and will consider funding as long as a business meets our minimum criteria. Furthermore, we will consider funding from as little as £2,500 up to £75,000.
For businesses looking to thrive and grow, lots of soft assets present a sizeable upfront cost that can take a long time to save for, preventing them from getting on with business development, or disrupting cash flow if they don't have a funding solution in place.
For example, a commercial coffee machine might cost anywhere between £2,000 and £5,000, which is a big outlay for an SME, especially as it hasn’t actually made any coffee at that point. The right funding solution allows the business to treat the coffee machine almost like a robotic employee, paid in arrears as it works, and making a profit as owners balance the cost of coffee and its overall value to the business against repayments.
Challenges finding small ticket soft asset leasing
We are increasingly aware that providing small ticket soft asset leasing is unusual – perhaps even a bit unfashionable. A lot of brokers tell us that, despite being instrumental for running a business, it is hard to find funding for smaller figures and soft assets.
This is perhaps for a number of reasons - maybe lenders feel it isn't worth the admin to do smaller deals, maybe there's a perceived risk in small and soft assets that other lenders are not prepared for, or maybe some feel it's just not very exciting to talk about funding deals for £2,500. More than likely, it’s a combination of factors.
Rivers supports SMEs
Whatever the reason, at Rivers we continue to think that the exciting thing about our work is helping SMEs to thrive.
We are an SME ourselves; we know how important smaller businesses are to the UK economy, and how essential reliable funding solutions are for those businesses to grow. We see ourselves as having a very clear role in a company's growth cycle, delivering funding solutions that take businesses to that next stage of development. Sometimes that means they eventually reach a point where they outgrow us and move onto bigger lenders, which is a wonderful achievement.
Many of our brokers are regularly looking to place small deals, and we always look for ways to make them possible, building those relationships to make sure business owners ultimately get what they need. We consider it a great privilege to help businesses to grow - making sure they get funding that's at the right level for them rather than overstretching to reach a high minimum loan requirement.
With brokers having so much to think about all the time, and so many different deals to juggle, it can be hard to remember which lenders do what. However, if you have a small deal that you're looking to finance - remember that Rivers is here to help.
Contact Rivers