NACFB reports £33bn broker lending
25/02/2026
Today the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (“NACFB”) has published its inaugural Intermediary Market Outlook 2025/26, providing the most comprehensive picture to date of the UK’s broker-led SME finance market.
NACFB Member brokers originated £33 billion in SME lending in 2025, a 25pct year-on-year increase that positions the intermediary market as a core pillar of UK business finance. NACFB analysis indicates that its Members account for nearly two-thirds of broker-facilitated SME lending in the UK, placing the total broker-led market at approximately £50 billion annually.
This year’s data shows that during 2025, the NACFB’s broker Members arranged 180,000 loans for UK businesses, generating an estimated £12 billion in direct GVA. When wider economic effects are included, the total impact rises to £19.2 billion, with lending activity supporting an estimated 185,000 additional jobs. Notably, 62pct of broker-facilitated lending was delivered outside London and the South East, underscoring the intermediary market’s significant role in driving regional economic growth.
The 92-page Intermediary Market Outlook also draws on lender and broker survey data to explore transaction volumes, market dynamics, emerging friction points, regulatory considerations and expectations for the year ahead, enriched by independent third-party insight to provide a holistic, evidence-led view of the sector.
Jim Higginbotham, CEO of the NACFB and former Group CEO at Star Asset Finance, said, “For most within our industry, the central role of brokers in SME finance has long been understood through experience. What this report does is provide external, data-backed evidence of that reality. The scale is unmistakable. £33 billion arranged by NACFB brokers alone. A 25pct year-on-year increase. Lending that supports jobs, regional growth and economic output across the UK."
Jim added, “This is no longer a peripheral channel within SME finance. Intermediaries are a structural component of how funding flows to small businesses. As complexity in the market increases, so too does the value of informed, professional guidance. The evidence shows a mature, resilient and increasingly influential intermediary market - one that policymakers, lenders and stakeholders cannot afford to overlook.”
Kieran Jones, Head of Communications & Advocacy at the NACFB, said, “The £33 billion headline understandably draws attention, but the real story in this report sits beneath that number. When you look closely at the data, you see brokers considering an average of six lenders per deal, a quarter of clients having been declined elsewhere before being successfully funded, and nearly two-thirds of lending delivered outside London and the South East."
The full Intermediary Market Outlook 2025/26 is available to download and read online here.
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