Bramley & Gage
Gin distillery
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
"With their business funding, Edward and Michael from Bramley & Gage were able to boost their production by purchasing a new gin still."
Get the business funding you need to win
Grow your business with fast, affordable finance from the UK’s number 1 business lending platform
Apply as a limited company without affecting your credit score
Apply online in 7 minutes
Decision in as little as 1 hour
Borrow £10,000 to £750,000
Rates from 6.9% per year
No fees to settle early
Funding Circle has worked with the British Business Bank since 2013, supporting thousands of businesses as one of the largest providers of Government-backed loans including through the Growth Guarantee Scheme.
What is business funding?
Business funding is additional finance that can help make the day-to-day running of your business easier. It can help with shorter-term needs, like cash flow, as well as funding longer-term plans, like business growth.
Whether you’re hoping to open a new premises, invest in new equipment or launch a new product line, affordable business funding can be the driving force to take your business further.
Business funding can be used to
- Make a one off payment
- Buy new stock or supplies
- Increase your cash flow
- Build branding and marketing
- Support business growth
- Build an online presence
Check your eligibility in 30 seconds with our online form without affecting your credit score.
Applying is quick and easy
1
Check if you qualify in 30 seconds
See if you’re eligible without affecting your credit score
2
Apply online in 7 minutes
Complete our simple form with your details, and we’ll only ask for supporting documents if we need them
3
Get approved in as little as 1 hour
If approved, you’ll receive no-obligation offer with your personalised rate
4
Get your funds in a couple of days
Once you accept your offer we'll deposit the money into your account - typically within 48 hours
Here to help if you need us
Contact our UK-based team if you have any questions
How does business funding work?
Funding Circle provides debt funding through term loans. However, there are other options available through other avenues. The three main types of business funding include:
1) Equity funding:
Equity funding comes from investors. Funds raised in this way do not need to be paid back, but you will be handing over ownership of a portion of your business. The bigger the risk or the bigger the investment, the larger the stake in the company your investor will want. Your investors may have a right to a portion of your profits indefinitely and have a say in key business decisions.
2) Debt funding:
Debt funding refers to borrowing money. Loans, credit cards and overdrafts are all forms of debt funding. You will borrow a set amount of money and pay it back over a period of time, usually with interest and fees. The major advantage to debt funding is that you will retain full control of the business.
3) Grant funding:
Business grants can be issued by private or public organisations. The UK Government, for instance, offers a range of grants aimed at new and existing businesses. Some grants are available nationally, while others are regional. Business grants do not need to be paid back, but they are often difficult to obtain or are aimed at particular niches, and so usually have strict eligibility criteria.
Types of business funding
Business funding comes in all shapes and sizes. Which type is best for you depends on the type of business you have, how much you need to borrow, and what you intend to use it for. The options include:You may apply for an overdraft on your business bank account. This allows you to spend more than is available within your account, up to a fixed amount. Overdrafts are usually for smaller amounts and as such, tend not to be suitable for large purchases or investments. However, they can be a good option if you need to access a small amount of working capital. Banks usually charge a fixed monthly fee for using an overdraft.
Business credit cards may be suitable for small purchases and are advantageous in that they can be used by multiple people. Credit card holders will make monthly repayments on their balance, plus interest. This type of credit is not usually suitable for funding growth or making large purchases, as credit card limits tend to be low, while interest rates are often high.
Invoice financing allows you to release money that is tied up in unpaid invoices. The lender will give you a percentage of the value of your due invoices, which you will then pay back plus a fixed, per-invoice fee. Invoice financing can aid with cash flow if you experience a delay between completing a job and receiving payment.
This type of business funding allows you to borrow a percentage of your average monthly card sales. You will repay the money, plus a fee once the card payments have cleared. Merchant cash advances can be a great cash flow booster for businesses that take lots of card payments (for instance those in retail or hospitality).
Asset finance is a business loan secured against an asset. This may be an existing asset or one you intend to purchase. Assets used in this type of financing include equipment, machinery and vehicles. If you fail to make repayments, your lender can recoup their losses by seizing the asset. This type of business funding can take a while to secure as it requires asset valuation. It is also dependent on you having (or requiring) valuable assets in the first place.
With a business loan, you borrow a fixed sum of money and pay it back in monthly instalments with added interest. Business loans are now easy to apply for and offer fast access to affordable credit. You do not necessarily need assets to secure a business loan, though you may be required to give a personal guarantee.
Over 103,000 businesses have borrowed £13.6 billion through Funding Circle to take their business forward
£13.6 billion
lent to businesses
What is alternative business funding?
Alternative business funding refers to any non-traditional finance method. They include:- Investments (angel investors, venture capital) — Individuals or organisations give you funding in exchange for equity. Usually for early stage companies with high growth aspirations.
- Crowdfunding (equity, donation, or rewards-based) — Your funding is achieved by lots of individuals each giving a small amount. In return they either get a stake in your business, some of your product/services or another reward.
- Online lending platforms — You take out a business loan and pay it back with interest, similar to a bank loan but with a quick, online process.
How is Funding Circle different from a bank?
Funding Circle is not a bank. As the UK’s top business lending platform, we connect creditworthy businesses with individuals and organisations who have money to lend. You get the finance your business needs to succeed, and those who lend to you earn interest as you repay the loan.
Our streamlined application process uses the latest technology to make it as fast and efficient as possible for you. We’re great at what we do because we deal exclusively in small business loans. Since 2010, we’ve helped 103,000 small businesses borrow more than £13.6.
As an alternative funding provider, Funding Circle is the UK’s number 1 business lending platform, specialising in small business loans. To see how we can help you, apply for business funding with our 7-minute form today.
A Funding Circle small business loan can be much more affordable than a business overdraft or credit card.
Frequently asked questions
As the UK’s number one online lending platform, we offer alternative business funding with loans of £10,000 to £750,000. To be eligible to apply for a loan with us, you’ll need to:
- Have been trading for 1 year or more
- Be based in the UK
For loans offered through the Government’s Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS), there is also some additional criteria:
- Must have a turnover of less than £45 million
- Business is trading in the UK
- Loan is for business purposes (ie. working capital or investment, and to support trading in the UK)
To help as many businesses as possible, we’ll look at how your business has performed over a longer period of time. So, even if you’ve been negatively impacted by the pandemic, you could still be approved for a loan.
Whether alternative business finance is right for your business depends on a number of factors. Ask yourself:
- How much am I looking to raise?
- Do I need funding quickly?
- Do I have enough resource available to manage a crowdfunding campaign?
- Am I willing to give away equity in exchange for funding? If so, how much?
- What am I looking to raise money for? Is it a vision potetial backers might be able to believe in enough to invest?
One option available to start up businesses looking to get business funding is the UK Government’s Start Up Loans. These are Government-backed loans that allow businesses with less than 2 years’ trading history to borrow from £500 to £25,000, and they charge a fixed interest rate of 6%.
With Funding Circle business loans, in order to be eligible you need to:
- Have a minimum of 2 years’ trading history
As a result, we’re unable to offer start up loans.
You could get business funding in the form of a business loan from an online lending platform, like Funding Circle. For other types of business funding, you can obtain these from banks, crowdfunding sites, finance brokers, local governments and other financial organisations.
To get a personalised quote for business funding in the form of a business loan, complete our 7-minute form and you’ll get a decision in as little as 1 hour.
Once you’ve completed our online form, you may be asked to send a few documents to finish your application for alternative business funding. We may require the following:
Business bank statements for up to the last eight months
They must show:
- The Account name and (where possible) the registered address. These must match the business you create the loan application for.
- The sort code and account number.
- All daily transactions.
Latest full unabbreviated accounts
They must show:
- Profit and loss
- Detailed profit and loss
- Balance sheet information
If we don’t need it, we won’t ask for it
To save you time and effort, wherever we can, we use publicly available sources such as Companies House or new technologies such as Open Banking to get the information we need. This makes applying more efficient, and many businesses don’t need to provide any documents to apply.