Despite increased awareness of asset finance, more UK companies use overdrafts to fund their export business, a report by lender Close Brothers has found.

Among the 700 SME owners and senior managers polled as part of the Close Brothers Business Barometer, awareness of asset finance had grown almost six percentage points from 60.7% in December 2012, to 66.4% in December 2013 when the latest survey was conducted.

Nonetheless, asked how they planned to finance exports, 24.1% said they relied on overdrafts, a further 30.9% financed their exports through invoice finance and fewer than 20% of companies choose to finance their export business using asset finance.

Of the remaining respondents, 7.3% said they make use of term loans, while 17.6% select other financing methods.

The Close Brothers survey asked UK businesses which markets they thought offered the biggest growth potential and found 63% believed it was the domestic market, while 13% said the European Union and 12% looked to growth from the Middle East and Asia.

Mike Randall, chief executive officer of Close Brothers Asset Finance, said that businesses who export are both more productive and more resilient than businesses than their competitors.

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He added that financing need not pose a barrier to companies wishing to export: "Asset finance offers a cost effective and efficient way to invest in your business to ensure it has the tools it needs to meet the demands of an export strategy."