Compare the interest rates, funding available, fees, available terms and eligibility requirements of the best business loans for UK SMEs.
Updated: 10th October 2025
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43% of SME’s used external finance in Q2 2024 and the growth of alternative finance and challenger banks offers more choice than ever. In the UK, there are four distinct sources available to business owners:
Specialist Business Lenders / Challenger Banks compete with banks to offer an alternative in the business loan market. Typically, they offer short-term, unsecured loans. Their interest rates can be higher than the banks; however, the lending criteria may not be as strict.
Banks offer both secured and unsecured business loans, with their unsecured loans generally coming at higher interest rates. Since the GFC, banks have been stricter when it comes to lending out money and will run detailed checks on your business to ensure you can service the loan. That aside, banks remain a viable option for many business owners.
Peer-To-Peer (P2P) lending, also known as social lending or crowdfunding, is a newer form of finance which emerged in 2005. P2P enables business owners to source funding directly from a pool of individual investors without the need for a financial institution in the middle. Some P2P lenders have come under scrutiny from the FCA in recent times, to ensure that investors are fully aware of the risks involved. P2P websites can offer unsecured business loans with terms of up to 5 years. They may offer lower rates than offered through the banks, although there can be other fees involved during the process.
Government Loans are offered to a wide variety of businesses across different industries. With loans available for start-ups as well as existing businesses, government loans can provide funding without some of the strict criteria associated with banks or specialist lenders. And while the government application process can be lengthy – the rates are often very competitive.
If you are in the process of starting your business or it only has a few months of trading history, you may be interested in reading our guide to business loans available to start-ups.
For businesses with a 12+ month trading history seeking quick finance, merchant cash advances and invoice finance are among the best options, as they secure finance against credit card payments and invoices, respectively.
Finally, business credit cards are now offering some very competitive terms and are another option if you are looking for fast and flexible business finance.
*The representative APR is an illustration of the highest rate Lloyds expect to offer up to 51% of successful applicants.
Lloyds Bank claims to approve 9 out of 10 business loans and overdrafts, which include three different business loans, depending on your company size and the amount you wish to borrow. Lloyds Bank offers secured and unsecured loans for amounts as low as £1,000 up to £50,000. If you want to borrow more than £25,000, you can choose a variable rate.
When you apply for a business loan of up to £50,000, you may need to provide:
Depending on the specific details of the loan you apply for, Lloyds may also ask you for:
HSBC offers fixed-rate small business loans of up to £25,000, which can be paid off over 60 days or more. There are no charges for additional repayments, and customers can manage their loans via the HSBC online banking portal.
For larger businesses looking to borrow more than £25,000, HSBC also offers a Flexible Business Loan with payment terms of up to 20 years. For more information about eligibility for HSBC business loans, visit the business borrowing guide on the HSBC website.
Funding Circle began as a peer-to-peer marketplace, founded in 2010. Over 130,000 UK businesses used Funding Circle by 2022, and in 2025, they expanded their offerings to government loan schemes, credit cards, lines of credit, and asset financing.
The company is no longer a P2P marketplace, and the unsecured business loan offering is highly competitive. A major draw is the simplicity of the eligibility requirements: UK-based companies that are one year old. Some documentation is required for applications, including profit and loss statements, balance sheet information, and up to eight months of bank transactions.
Love Finance operates as a hybrid within the alternative financing space. It’s both a direct lender and a broker. They first assess your application against their own lending criteria, and if you’re not the right fit, they help find an external lender for you.
Their in-house offering is extensive, ranging from £5,000 to £750,000. Repayment plans are flexible, and rates can be competitive. Pre-approval can be done in minutes and doesn’t impact your credit score.
Love Finance doesn’t actually publish its representative APR, and is likely to be higher than the indiciative 6.9% shown in their online calculator for most SMEs. The company has glowing reviews on Trustpilot and is an accessible option for startups.
Founded in 2011, iwoca has a big, bold brand that targets small, independent businesses. As of July 2025, iwoca has lent to over 50,000 SMEs.
iwoca has two main products: business loans and trade credit, with the latter having limits up to £30,000. Sole traders may only obtain loans for up to two years (with no paperwork required through Open Banking), while limited companies can access longer terms.
It’s possible to alter the repayment structure and save interest by repaying early. Their focus on customer service is working as they’ve been rated excellent by around 10,000 customers on Trustpilot.
Fleximize was founded in October 2013 and prides itself on an agile approach, offering fast and flexible financing in as little as 48 hours. It also includes penalty-free early repayments, top-ups to access further capital quickly, and repayment holidays.
This financing approach is powered by its own credit scoring system, and Fleximize encourages businesses that have been rejected elsewhere to apply directly, as the lending criteria are quite favourable to small, new companies. Sole traders can only access £25,000, though.
Nucleus Commercial Finance was founded in 2011 and has lent close to £3 billion at the time of writing [October 2025]. The bank celebrates its “human approach”, with customer service representatives always available via telephone, and offers the stability and scale of bank financing combined with the fast decisions of an alternative lender.
Nucleus is extremely fast with its decision-making. The company leans into Open Banking and Open Accounting, which allows them to assess the financial health of your business easily. However, there is contradictory information about whether terms are up to 6 years or 7, and whether the minimum trading history is 6 months or 12. With little clarity around fees or representative APR, Nucleus is not the most transparent of lenders.
Launched in 2013, Momenta Finance (formerly Merchant Money) was designed to provide alternative lending solutions, from bridging loans to cash advances. Momenta Finance claims its focus is on transparency, and we can attest to that, as it’s one of the few online lenders that pegs its interest rate to SONIA and publicly states the additional margin.
One drawback of Momenta Finance is that a homeowner must be used as a personal guarantee. The implication is clear, despite this being an unsecured loan. However, if you have two homeowners within the business, an “Enhanced” product is available, offering funding limits that rise from £350,000 to £500,000.
Minimum turnover requirements are high, but as a result, the product is affordable and consistent.
Capify was founded in 2018 with the goal of providing simple, quick, and responsible access to capital. Capify is designed for commercial borrowers who require short-term (3-12 months) capital with manageable monthly repayments. Capify takes small, regular payments, either daily or weekly. This could fit your cash flow better than a large monthly repayment, but the numerous fees add up to a significant amount. Merchant Cash Advances are also available.
Customers benefit from a dedicated account manager and UK-based support. Capify’s Trustpilot rating may appear strong at 4.5 out of 5, but it’s lower than that of many of its competitors.
There are two ways of looking at Capify. Some may see it as a business version of payday loans (extremely expensive and short-term), while others may see it as a good option for large companies to access liquidity, much like a bridging loan, only more accessible with no security. Capify has high borrowing limits but only lends up to 90% of monthly turnover, which is more conservative than many others.
*The representative APR is an illustration of the highest rate Lloyds expect to offer up to 51% of successful applicants.
Lloyds Bank claims to approve 9 out of 10 business loans and overdrafts, which include three different business loans, depending on your company size and the amount you wish to borrow. Lloyds Bank offers secured and unsecured loans for amounts as low as £1,000 up to £50,000. If you want to borrow more than £25,000, you can choose a variable rate.
When you apply for a business loan of up to £50,000, you may need to provide:
Depending on the specific details of the loan you apply for, Lloyds may also ask you for:
HSBC offers fixed-rate small business loans of up to £25,000, which can be paid off over 60 days or more. There are no charges for additional repayments, and customers can manage their loans via the HSBC online banking portal.
For larger businesses looking to borrow more than £25,000, HSBC also offers a Flexible Business Loan with payment terms of up to 20 years. For more information about eligibility for HSBC business loans, visit the business borrowing guide on the HSBC website.
*The representative APR is an illustration of the highest rate Lloyds expect to offer up to 51% of successful applicants.
Lloyds Bank claims to approve 9 out of 10 business loans and overdrafts, which include three different business loans, depending on your company size and the amount you wish to borrow. Lloyds Bank offers secured and unsecured loans for amounts as low as £1,000 up to £50,000. If you want to borrow more than £25,000, you can choose a variable rate.
When you apply for a business loan of up to £50,000, you may need to provide:
Depending on the specific details of the loan you apply for, Lloyds may also ask you for:
Metro Bank launched in 2010 as the first high street bank to open in the UK in over 150 years. In hindsight, it was a bridge between the traditional high street bank and the modern challenger model.
Their unsecured business loan is relatively straightforward and accessible. However, it scores very positively with customers when it comes to service, ranking higher than Lloyds, Virgin Money, Bank of Scotland, and TSB for SME overdraft and loan services.
Being a traditional bank, the decision speed may not be as fast as specialist online lenders, but the APR is competitive, and the product is suited to smaller companies looking for a small loan.
TSB launched in its current form back in 2013, making it fairly new on the high street bank scene. That being said, ‘TSB’ has been a household name for many years, thanks to its long history with the Lloyds Banking Group. TSB was acquired by Spanish bank Sabadell in March 2015 and now has over 550 branches across the UK.
TSB offers two business loan products: a base rate loan with a variable interest rate and a fixed loan with a fixed interest rate. Both are available on either a secured or unsecured basis. Despite generous ranges for their secured loans, TSB’s business loan terms state that unsecured loans are only available in amounts from £1,000 to £25,000. However, the 10-year term is highly sought after for long-term growth projects.
A survey carried out of SME customers with business current accounts by BVA BDRC ranked TSB 11th overall, with just 55% of SMEs surveyed willing to recommend them. Only 48% of respondents praised TSB’s services in branches, which is supposed to be a traditional bank’s strong point. On a more positive note, these figures are up from previous years.
Virgin Money is well-known in the UK’s banking sector and in October 2024, they merged with Nationwide. Rather than a quick solution to cash flow problems, Virgin Business Loans are geared towards long-term development.
Virgin Money keeps things simple with just three loan products one based on the BOE Base rate, one with fixed interest rate and one based on the Sterling Overnight Index Average (SONIA) rate designed for those who are comfortable with variable interest rates. Their fixed-rate loan (five-year term) and Base Rate Loan (20-year term) differ only in the way the APR is agreed. In fact, you can start an agreement with the former and be migrated to the latter after five years. Interest can be paid monthly or quarterly, while the interest-only options mean repaying the principal at the end of the term.
Barclays is a global banking giant with origins dating back to 1765. There’s a Barclays branch in most towns across the UK, though they have been working on their online platform transformation to improve accessibility.
For loans between £1,000 and £25,000, Barclays offers one of the most transparent options available, featuring an easy-to-use unsecured business loan calculator on its website. This shows your monthly payments and the likely interest rate.
To access loans of up to £100,000, business owners must have an existing relationship with Barclays, as the bank will need to calculate a provisional lending limit based on the business’s financial health.
Barclays also offers a 3-month repayment holiday for loans under £25,000 (longer on larger loans). This means that while interest accrues, you don’t need to make any repayments just yet. This is designed for loans that fund a project where the expected ROI won’t kick in for a while.
Shawbrook is a specialist lender and savings bank. Founded in 2011, the company grew at a time when many other challenger banks were arising. However, service was a priority, and Shawbrook didn’t want to abandon traditional principles despite not having any branches. Because of their diverse set of products, including FSCS-protected savings accounts, Shawbrook has the capital and diversification to offer competitive lending solutions.
Being a regulated bank, its approach to risk is stringent. For loans under £100,000, two filled accounts are required, while four are required for loans over £100,000. This makes Shawbrook inaccessible for new companies, not to mention potential homeowner requirements. Like a traditional lender, Shawbrook also wants details on how the funds will be spent.
The secured business loan is one of the most popular types of SME business loans. A secured loan is a loan that’s backed by collateral, like business equipment, which your lender can seize if you default on the loan. This reduces the risk to your lender, which helps you secure better rates and higher loan amounts.
An unsecured business loan is a loan that doesn’t have collateral; if you default on the loan, your lenders can’t seize anything belonging to you, or your business. This is less risky for you, but it creates more risk for lenders. For this reason, unsecured loans tend to have higher rates, lower amounts, and stricter requirements.
A line of credit is a cross between a loan and a credit card. You can spend up to a specified amount (typically around £50,000 for SMEs, but can be much higher), so long as you pay off that amount and its interest within an agreed-upon deadline – like a loan.
You can continue to use and repay the money you borrow on a line of credit as long as you pay on time, similar to a credit card.
Although all of the loans we’re talking about in this article fall under the same “SME loans” umbrella, they’re very different from one another. Unsecured loans are ideal for newer businesses, while secured loans are more suitable for established businesses. A business line of credit is a solid option for businesses requiring flexible funding.
The loan amount is the amount you’re going to borrow, not how much you’re going to pay back. So you’ll want to settle on an amount that you can reasonably pay back after interest is applied. The savviest approach would be to invest your loan in areas of your business that will provide a high ROI – that way, the loan pays for itself. However, as we mentioned before, fewer and fewer SMEs have the bandwidth to do this right now.
APR, or annual percentage rate, is a combination of the interest you’re going to pay along with any annual fees, processing fees, paperwork fees, etc. It’s the most accurate representation of how much it’s going to cost you to borrow a loan, so make sure you know it before you sign on the dotted line.
Finally, you need to consider how long you want to carry your loan debt. The faster you repay a loan, the less you’re going to spend in interest. However, this will also increase the amount of each instalment, which can choke your funds. Determine what you can afford each month before agreeing to a loan, and then choose your loan term based on that amount.
Just like a personal loan, several factors are considered before your business is approved for a loan. This includes:
Poor credit will limit the choice of lenders that will accept you, but there are still options available. You may be able to secure invoice financing or a cash advance, as these present a lower risk for lenders. Some specialist online lenders will consider you even with bad credit, especially if your business is consistently delivering positive financial results.
In short, yes. Just as lenders will look at both your business and personal credit history when assessing a new loan, that loan also has the possibility of affecting your personal credit score down the road. This is particularly true for sole traders whose business and personal finances are essentially the same. If your business runs into financial difficulty with you as an owner or director, this will have a bearing on your credit score when it comes to borrowing more money in the future.
Each lender will have their own criteria, with banks often having the strictest rules. Lenders will look at a host of factors, including the type of company you operate, the number of years you have been running, your annual turnover, your profitability, and your personal financial history as an owner or director.
These and other factors will impact who you can borrow money from, how much you can borrow, the rate of interest, and the repayment terms. The lower the financial risk you present to lenders, the more flexible they will be with their loan offerings.
If you are struggling to get a loan due to the credit rating of your business or want to look at other options to get working capital you may want to check out merchant cash advances, invoice finance or asset finance. It is often best to avoid taking out personal loans and have the credit check done on your business only. The eligibility criteria will vary between finance options and be determined by many factors so it may be best to go via a credit broker.
Your choice of lenders will be limited, but it is still possible to obtain a business loan. Check out our guide to business loans for bad credit.