Working Capital Solutions

Most SMEs experience working capital pressure at some point. Sometimes it is seasonal. Sometimes it is growth-related - the business is winning but cash flow is not keeping pace. Sometimes it is structural, the wrong finance has been put in place and it is not serving the business well.

The right working capital solution depends entirely on the cause of the pressure. We start there, before we talk about products.

Overdrafts and Revolving Credit Facilities 

Traditional but still useful when structured correctly. A revolving credit facility gives you a flexible line of credit you draw down and repay as needed. Appropriate for businesses with predictable, cyclical cash flow.

Short-term Business Loans 

Fixed-term lending for specific working capital 

requirements. Suitable where the need is defined and the repayment is funded by a clear source, an expected payment, a contract completion, a seasonal peak.

Invoice Finance 

Often the most appropriate working capital solution for B2B businesses. See our Invoice Finance page for a full explanation. If you are considering a loan for working capital and you invoice other businesses, read that page before you decide.

Merchant Cash Advance 

An advance against future card sales, repaid as a percentage of daily transactions. Can be appropriate in specific circumstances. Is also one of the most expensive and most commonly misused products in the market.

Working capital is the area where we see the most mismatched finance. In particular:

Businesses taking short-term, high-cost loans to solve a structural cash flow problem. 

The loan addresses the symptom (the immediate shortfall) but does nothing about the cause. When the loan ends, the problem returns, often with additional debt on top.

Businesses being directed into merchant cash advance products when cheaper, more appropriate alternatives exist. Merchant cash advance can appear simple and fast, but the effective cost is frequently much higher than it appears. If you have been offered one, it is worth understanding the true cost before you sign.

The right working capital solution should match the cash flow cycle of your business not the product that is quickest to arrange or most profitable for the adviser.

We look at the underlying cause of your working capital requirement before we identify a solution. If the issue is debtor days, we will look at invoice finance. If it is seasonal, we will look at revolving facilities. If it is structural, we will tell you that -  because putting more debt into a structurally cash-negative business is not advice, it is a problem deferred.

We arrange working capital from £500 through to multi-million pound facilities, across every type of structure.

All commissions are disclosed before you commit to anything.