Investment in plant and machinery by small business grew for the first time since the recession began in the three months to end-September.
New business volumes in the sector rose by 15% to £4.6bn (€5.4bn) in the three months to end-September.
Julian Rose, head of asset finance at the FLA, which collated the figures, said: “Growth in business investment in new plant and machinery is a positive sign for the manufacturing sector and encouraging for the economy as a whole. Asset finance is able to help many businesses to invest again after a long period of making do with their existing equipment.”
The FLA has conducted a series of interviews with small businesses which have chosen asset finance as a source of funding. It claimed that the research demonstrated asset finance was easy and inexpensive to obtain, and that leasing and vendor finance were popular options among medium-size businesses.
