UK small and medium-sized businesses are sitting on £770 billion in untapped assets that could be used to fuel growth, according to Lloyds Commercial Banking.

Research by the bank also found that businesses are owed £291 billion in outstanding invoices, while many businesses remain reluctant to borrow money to fund expansion planes.

Invoice finance is an increasingly popular way of drawing cash from invoices. A finance provider pays the invoice on the supplier’s behalf before chasing up the debt.

In return, it takes a fee of around 10 per cent of each invoice.

Donald Kerr, managing director of Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance, said: “Our research found that more than half (52 per cent) of SMEs are more confident about investing in growth this year than they were 12 months ago.

“Despite this, SMEs are missing out on [opportunities] because they are not harnessing the full range of funding options available that could unlock the value in their assets or invoices to help them grow.”