Across a 12-month period the lender has reduced the average time from receipt of proposal to credit decision by approximately 39% for asset finance deals.

Offer rates have increased by around 13% year-on-year, while Paragon’s SME customer base grew by approximately 8% over the same period.

These gains have supported increased activity across a range of asset categories. Asset types driving the largest increases in deal volumes included cars, agriculture, commercial vehicles and waste and recycling.

Alongside day-to-day lending activity, Paragon continues to support smaller businesses through the British Business Bank’s Growth Guarantee Scheme.

The bank has now received a further £63m allocation, which is available to deploy through to 31st March 2027.

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Since the scheme launched, Paragon has deployed approximately £80m to SMEs, supporting investment in soft assets and operational improvements.

Paragon has expanded its broker portal’s self-serve functionality and made system upgrades designed to reduce manual intervention and speed up deal progression.

Paragon has also invested in its internal sales and support teams across both broker and vendor channels to improve responsiveness and consistency of service.

Phillip Hughes, deputy managing director at Paragon SME Lending (pictured above), commented: “Speed and reliability really matter to SMEs and the brokers and intermediaries who support them.

“Through continued investment in our people, platforms and processes, we’re consistently making quicker, better-informed decisions while maintaining robust credit standards.

“That ultimately translates into a better experience for our customers, as evidenced by the fast-growing number of SMEs we serve.”