The London-based recruitment specialist has now provided £156m to over 1,000 active clients since launching in 2014 and written off just £2,700 in bad debt.

The announcement follows a period of strong growth for Sonovate, which saw the company sign up 168 new recruitment businesses in the final quarter of 2016 alone.

Richard Prime, co-founder and co-CEO of Sonovate, commented: “Not only are we committed to transforming the recruitment sector; we are committed to driving SME growth more generally.

“These companies are a significant contributor to GDP by themselves, and at Sonovate we are committed to helping them grow.”

Sonovate helps recruiters – 85% of whom are classified as SMEs – who have difficulty paying contractors before receiving payment from the end client.

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The company pays candidates once timesheets have been submitted and approved, before invoicing the end user.

All profit is paid directly to the recruiter and, unlike many invoice discounting or factoring companies, Sonovate charges no set-up, service or audit fees.

Instead, Sonovate’s fee comprises a percentage of the recruitment agency’s turnover and is deducted per invoice.

Sonovate has claimed that so far this year, 88% of the recruitment start-ups have used its finance.

The company’s team has now grown from just 25 last year to 116 strong.

“The size of the sector is often vastly underestimated – but the market has huge potential and there’s a big appetite for Sonovate,” Richard added.

“As a result, we are growing every day – watch this space!”