News & guides
Dated, sourced reporting on the market now—plus practical guides designed to stay useful when the headlines move on.
Policy, rates & markets
Status and source dates are made explicit, so an announced change is not mistaken for a live rule.
The scheme is open and an expansion has been announced. Here is what UK companies can apply for now, what is still changing and where the repayment risk sits.
Read the full briefingThe £210 million regional fund is accepting applications. We look at the geography, the finance on offer and what a credible loan application needs to show.
The latest Bank of England data show a rise in the effective rate on new SME loans. The useful response is not to predict rates, but to test whether the facility still works under pressure.
A proposed 60-day cap and tougher late-payment regime could change SME cash flow. None of it is law yet, so businesses still need a working-capital plan for today.
Explore by funding need
Understand finance for business premises and investment property, then compare rates, deposits and application steps.
Find out what a merchant cash advance means, how to apply and how its costs and deductions compare with a loan.
Compare the structures
Start with the funding need, then compare control, cash cost, security and the downside—not just speed.
A useful first question
Match the term and repayment pattern to the cash event—customer payment, asset output, completed expansion or property income.