Funding matched to the job it actually has to do
Smoothing a cash flow gap, buying a machine, settling a tax bill, opening a second site — each of those wants a different facility. We find the one that fits, explain the trade-offs in plain terms, and say so when borrowing is not the right answer.
Talk to us about fundingHow business borrowing really works
Business finance is not one product. It is a shelf of them, each built for a particular shape of problem: a short gap, a long-lived asset, an invoice that will not be paid for ninety days, a tax bill with an immovable deadline. Picking the right shape matters far more than shaving a fraction off the headline rate.
The lenders behind them are just as varied — clearing banks, challenger banks, specialist asset funders, independent credit funds. They price differently, they underwrite differently, and their appetite shifts from quarter to quarter. A business turned down by one can be approved comfortably by another on almost identical numbers.
That gap is where a broker earns their keep. We track who is lending, what they want to see in a set of accounts, and which sectors they quietly avoid. Your case goes to the funders likely to say yes, rather than everywhere at once — which protects your credit file as well as your time.
Asset and equipment
Funding tied to a specific piece of kit, spread across the years it earns.
Asset Finance
Spread the cost of equipment across the years it earns, rather than paying for it all in the month you buy it. The kit itself does most of the work of securing the deal.
Read moreHire Purchase
Instalments across an agreed term, and the asset is yours at the end of it. The most straightforward way to buy equipment you intend to keep.
Read moreLease Finance
Rent the equipment for an agreed period, then extend, replace or return it. Lower monthly payments than hire purchase, with none of the residual value risk.
Read moreEquipment Finance
From a single machine to a full fit-out, funded against the equipment rather than against your property or your overdraft.
Read moreEquipment Refinance
Raise working capital against machinery you already own outright, without selling it or losing the use of it for a single day.
Read moreCommercial Vehicles
Vans, tractor units, trailers, tippers and specialist bodies — funded singly or as a fleet, on terms that match how long you actually keep a vehicle.
Read moreLoans and working capital
Cash into the business, repaid over an agreed term or drawn as needed.
Business Loans
A lump sum now, repaid over an agreed term. The most familiar kind of business borrowing, and still the right answer more often than not.
Read moreFlexible & Short Term
Funding for a gap you can see the end of. Terms from around three to twenty-four months, priced for speed rather than for the long haul.
Read moreStart Up Loans
Funding for businesses that do not yet have the trading record most lenders ask for. Smaller, more personal, and judged on the plan as much as the numbers.
Read moreTax, card and scheme funding
Facilities built around a specific bill, a card terminal or a government guarantee.
VAT Loans
Turn a single quarterly VAT payment into manageable instalments, so one date in the calendar stops distorting the whole cash flow.
Read moreCorporation Tax Loans
A short facility that converts one large annual tax payment into instalments you can plan around, without touching your working capital.
Read moreMerchant Cash Advance
An advance repaid as a percentage of your card takings, so quiet weeks cost less than busy ones. Built for businesses that trade over a terminal.
Read moreGovernment-Backed Loans
Lending from accredited funders where the government guarantees part of the lender's exposure. Useful when a business is viable but light on security.
Read moreWhere the security is property
Some business needs are best met against bricks and mortar. Those have pages of their own.
Commercial mortgages
Buying your trading premises, refinancing an existing commercial loan, or funding an investment property held inside the business.
Commercial lendingCommercial bridging
Short-term, property-secured funding when a deadline will not wait — an auction lot, a purchase ahead of a sale, or works no term lender will touch.
Bridging financeDevelopment and refurbishment
Staged funding released against a build programme, with an exit onto a sale or a term facility once the scheme is finished and revalued.
Talk to usHow an enquiry runs
- 1
Tell us what the money is for, roughly how much and by when. Ten minutes on the phone is usually enough.
- 2
We read your figures, say honestly what looks achievable, and agree which funders are worth approaching.
- 3
We put the case forward and come back with indicative terms so you can weigh cost, term and security side by side.
- 4
You choose. We handle the paperwork, chase the queries and stay on it until the funds land.
What a lender will want to see
None of this is unusual, and having it to hand shortens the process considerably. If something on the list is missing or looks weak, tell us early — it is almost always workable, but only if we know before a lender does.
- Filed accounts plus recent management figures. Most funders want two years of accounts and something current alongside them.
- Business bank statements, usually three to six months, read for the shape of the cash flow rather than the closing balance.
- How long you have traded, what you do, and whether income is contracted or won job by job.
- Existing borrowing, and any charges already registered against the company at Companies House.
- Directors' credit histories, because personal guarantees are standard on facilities below a certain size.
- What the money is for, and a credible account of how the thing it funds will help service it.
Does your industry change the answer?
Usually, yes. Lender appetite shifts sharply between sectors, and it moves the price, the term and the security they will ask for.
What it costs, and how we are paid
Comparing business finance is awkward because pricing conventions differ between products. These are the components to look for on anything we send you.
Interest rates and factor rates
Term loans quote an interest rate. Merchant cash advances and some short-term products quote a factor rate — a fixed multiple of the amount borrowed. The two are not comparable without doing the arithmetic, which we will do for you.
Arrangement and facility fees
Usually a percentage of the facility, either deducted at drawdown or added to the balance. Always check which, because it changes what actually reaches your account.
Our fee
We are paid by commission from the lender, by a fee from you, or occasionally both. Whichever applies to your case is set out in writing before you commit to anything.
Security and guarantees
A debenture, a charge over an asset or a personal guarantee costs nothing up front but carries real consequences. Understand what you are pledging before you sign it.
Legal and valuation costs
Property-backed and larger facilities usually carry solicitor and valuer fees. These fall to you, and are often payable whether or not the deal completes.
Early settlement
Some agreements rebate interest you have not yet incurred; others require the full contracted sum whenever you settle. Worth knowing on day one, not on the day you want out.
What a broker gives you that a single lender cannot
More than one answer
A bank can only offer you its own products. We look across the market, so a decline from one funder is the start of the search rather than the end of it.
One person on your case
The same named contact from the first call through to drawdown. You will not be re-explaining your business to somebody new halfway through.
A straight answer early
If the case is not fundable on the terms you want, we say so at the outset. Nobody gains from a hopeful application that takes three weeks to fail.
Your credit file protected
We shortlist before we submit, and we tell you before any funder runs a search. Scattering one application across a dozen lenders leaves a mark that follows you.
What is regulated, and what is not
Most lending to limited companies, and to businesses borrowing for genuinely commercial purposes, sits outside the Financial Conduct Authority's regulated regime. The consumer protections attached to personal borrowing — including recourse to the Financial Ombudsman Service in most circumstances — do not apply in the same way.
Some arrangements are regulated: certain agreements with sole traders and small partnerships below set thresholds, and any lending secured against a home. Where that applies we will tell you, and the case will be handled under our permissions.
You should not have to work out which category you fall into. We confirm it in writing before you commit to anything, along with how we are paid on the case.
Frequently asked
How much can a business borrow?
It depends far more on the product than on the business. Unsecured lending is sized against turnover and affordability; asset finance against the value and working life of the equipment; property-backed lending against the security. Rather than quote a range that may not apply to you, we would rather look at your figures and give you a realistic number.
How quickly can funding be arranged?
Unsecured and asset-backed facilities can move within days once we have your accounts and bank statements. Anything needing a valuation or solicitors — property security in particular — takes weeks rather than days. We will give you a realistic timetable at the outset and flag it immediately if it starts to slip.
Will enquiring affect my credit score?
Not at the enquiry stage. We shortlist funders from your figures before anything is submitted, and we tell you before any lender carries out a search. Several funders can also give an indication from a soft search, which leaves no visible footprint.
Will I have to give a personal guarantee?
On most facilities below a certain size, yes — it is the market norm rather than a comment on your business. A guarantee makes you personally liable if the company cannot repay. Read it, understand exactly what it covers, and take independent legal advice before signing.
Can we borrow with adverse credit or a CCJ?
Often, yes. It narrows the field and it usually costs more, but there are funders who price for it rather than declining on sight. What matters is the story behind it: a satisfied judgment with a clear explanation is a very different case from an ongoing pattern of missed payments.
What if the business is new?
Start-up lending exists, but it is smaller, dearer and leans heavily on the directors personally. Asset finance is often the more realistic route early on, because the funder is secured against the equipment rather than relying on a trading record that does not yet exist.
Do you lend your own money?
No. We are a broker, not a lender. That means we have no loan book to protect and no product to push — our job is to find the funder whose criteria and pricing fit your case best.
Can we repay early?
Usually, though the cost of doing so varies enormously. Some agreements rebate the interest you have not yet incurred; others require the full contracted sum however early you settle. We will point out the early settlement terms on any quote before you accept it.
Before you borrow
- Borrowing is a commitment. If the business cannot meet its repayments, the lender can enforce against the company and, where guarantees are in place, against the guarantors personally.
- A personal guarantee puts your own assets at risk, including your home if it is offered as security. Take independent legal advice before signing one.
- Headline rates are not the whole cost. Compare the total amount repayable, including every fee, across the full life of the facility.
- Merchant cash advances and some short-term facilities are priced as a fixed fee rather than an annual rate, which can make an expensive facility look inexpensive.
- Product descriptions on this page explain in general terms how these facilities work. They are not offers, and nothing here is a recommendation for your business.
Tell us what the money is for
A short conversation is usually enough for us to tell you what is realistic — including when the answer is that you should not borrow at all.
