Commercial mortgages, development finance, commercial bridging and asset finance from £25,000 to £10 million, for business owners, landlords and property developers.
Lending from £25,000 to £10 million.
High street banks, challenger banks and specialist lenders on one panel.
Every case underwritten individually, by people rather than a credit score.
Fees quoted case by case and agreed in writing before any work begins.
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Commercial finance is lending to a business or an investor rather than to a homeowner. It is secured on commercial property, land, a portfolio or business assets, and it covers everything from a mortgage on the premises you trade from to funding a development. Crucially, it is assessed on the deal and the business behind it rather than on a salary multiple.
We arrange commercial lending for businesses here in Sheffield and across the UK — from a single unit on Kelham Island to portfolio refinances and development sites.
A residential mortgage is largely decided by income multiples and automated scoring. Commercial lending is underwritten by a person who reads the case — the accounts, the trading history, the tenant, the asset and the people behind the business. That is why two businesses with near-identical accounts can get different answers, and why how a case is presented matters far more here than it does on the residential side.
It also means there is no published rate card to compare. Pricing is set against the risk of each deal, so the useful comparison is never the headline rate alone — it is the whole package: rate, arrangement fee, term, loan-to-value, covenants, and what is expected to happen at the end of the term.
Almost every commercial requirement falls into one of six categories. They are priced, underwritten and secured differently, and the first job on any case is working out which one actually fits — because the wrong product is the most expensive mistake available here.
For buying or refinancing business premises, shops, offices, industrial units or mixed-use property. Owner-occupier cases — where you trade from the building — are usually priced more keenly than investment cases, because the lender can assess the business using it. Terms commonly run to 25 years.
Holding rental property through a company rather than personally — now the default route for most new landlord purchases. Assessed on rental cover rather than personal income, and almost always requires a personal guarantee from the directors. See our buy-to-let page for the residential side.
Short-term lending for a timing problem: an auction purchase, a property that is unlettable or unmortgageable as it stands, or a deadline a term loan cannot meet. Fast and expensive, and it only works with a credible exit — a sale or a refinance you have already checked you will qualify for.
Funding a ground-up build, a conversion or a substantial refurbishment. Released in stages against work completed and signed off, not as a single lump sum, so cash flow between drawdowns has to be planned. Lenders weigh your track record heavily, and first-time developers face a shorter list.
Funding equipment, machinery, vehicles or plant, secured on the asset itself rather than on property. Useful where you would rather not tie up premises or working capital, and often available to businesses that would struggle to raise the same sum unsecured.
Working capital with no asset taken as security, decided mainly on turnover and trading history. Quicker to arrange and lighter on paperwork, but smaller, shorter and dearer than secured lending — and a personal guarantee is still the norm.
Commercial cases take longer than residential ones, because a person underwrites each one rather than a system scoring it. Six to twelve weeks is realistic for a commercial mortgage or development facility; bridging is considerably quicker. Here is what actually happens.
We go through the deal, the business behind it, the asset, how much you need and over what period — and establish which of the six types of finance actually fits before anything is submitted anywhere.
We gather the accounts, management figures, leases and projections, and put the case together properly. This is the step that most determines the answer: commercial lenders are reading a story, and a well-presented case gets terms that a badly presented one does not.
We approach the lenders whose criteria the case genuinely meets, rather than applying widely and collecting declines. Once you accept indicative terms, the lender instructs a valuation and begins full credit assessment.
Solicitors handle the searches, the security and the loan documentation. This is also the point at which any personal guarantee is drawn up — and the point at which you should take independent legal advice on it, before signing rather than after.
Funds are released. On a term loan that is a single completion; on development finance it is the first of several staged drawdowns, each released against work completed and signed off by the lender's monitoring surveyor.
Commercial terms are usually shorter than the loan itself, so there is a point at which the facility has to be refinanced, repaid or renegotiated. We diarise it rather than leaving you to discover it, because a facility that reaches its end with no plan is where commercial borrowing goes wrong.
Commercial lenders do not publish their criteria and they do not publish their rates. Two lenders looking at the same deal can price it very differently, and the only reliable way to know which will say yes is to know the market. That is what a broker is for here, rather more than on the residential side. We can provide:
One thing worth knowing before you start: most commercial lending to a limited company requires a personal guarantee from the directors. Limited liability does not extend to the guaranteed debt. It is the single point directors most often misunderstand, and we will always take you through it properly and recommend you take independent legal advice before signing.
Tell us about the deal and we will tell you, honestly, which lenders are likely to look at it and on what terms. The first conversation is free and carries no obligation.
Wondering what we charge? Commercial cases are quoted individually, because they vary too much for a standard fee to mean anything — and the figure is agreed with you in writing before any work begins. See our fees in full.