Can a new business get a loan?

Yes. A lender has no trading record to read, so it leans on the founders’ credit files, the business plan and any security. The government’s Start Up Loans scheme lends up to £25,000 to people starting or running a business that has traded for less than 60 months, at a fixed 7.5% a year (at November 2026).

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What a lender has to go on

A lender assessing an established company reads its bank statements and its accounts. A new business has neither, so the lender looks at the people and the plan. It reads each founder’s personal credit file. It asks what experience the founders have of the trade, how much of their own money is going in, and what the forecast says about when the business will cover its costs.

The forecast carries the weight that accounts carry for an older company. Build it month by month for at least the first year, from prices you have tested and costs you have quotes for. Show the cash position as well as the profit, because a new business pays for stock, equipment and deposits before its first sale.

Expect a lender to ask the directors of a new limited company for personal guarantees. With no trading record and few assets in the company, the guarantee is the lender’s main protection. Read what a personal guarantee means for a director before you sign one.

Figures worked out on paper beside a laptop

Start Up Loans

The government’s Start Up Loans scheme lends, at November 2026, up to £25,000 as an unsecured personal loan at a fixed 7.5% a year, repaid over one to five years. Interest is the only cost, including when you repay early, and borrowers get up to 12 months of mentoring. It is open to businesses that are new or have traded for less than 60 months.

The loan is made to you as an individual, so you are personally liable for it. If you trade through a limited company, you put the money into the company yourself, as a director’s loan or for shares. Lending your own money to your company covers the choice.

Other ways a new business can borrow

Asset finance

Asset finance is secured on the vehicle or equipment it buys, so the asset carries part of the lender’s risk.

Invoice finance

Invoice finance advances against invoices to creditworthy customers once the business is invoicing.

Merchant cash advance

Repaid from card takings, for a business that already takes card payments. How the cost works.

Your own money

A director’s loan or share capital, which also shows a lender that the founders have money at stake.

Equity

Investors who take shares, with no repayments, for a business with a plan to grow.

Grants

Grants for a set purpose, which pay part of a project’s cost.

Who a funding search through Swoop is for

The funding search here is for limited companies and LLPs, and for sole traders and partnerships borrowing more than £25,000. Borrowing of £25,000 or less by a sole trader or a small partnership is regulated credit, and the people introducing businesses here are not authorised to arrange it. If that is you, apply to the Start Up Loans scheme or to your own bank.

A new limited company can run a search as soon as it is registered. Lenders that will consider it are fewer than for a trading company, and the products open to it are those secured on an asset, an invoice or a guarantee. Start-up business funding compares them, with the equity and grant routes alongside.

What to have ready

Business loan calculator

The monthly repayment on a business loan, the interest over the term and the total you repay with the arrangement fee.

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Questions people ask

Can I get a business loan with no trading history?

Yes, from a smaller set of lenders and products. The Start Up Loans scheme lends up to £25,000 to businesses trading for less than 60 months. Asset finance is secured on what it buys, and invoice finance on invoices to your customers. A lender of an unsecured loan to a new company will read the founders’ credit files and plan, and is likely to ask for personal guarantees.

Do I need a deposit for a start-up loan?

The Start Up Loans scheme does not ask for a deposit. Asset finance providers may ask for a deposit on the asset, set by the lender. Any lender will look at how much of your own money is going into the business, because founders with money at stake are a lower risk to it.

Is a Start Up Loan a personal loan?

Yes. It is an unsecured personal loan made to you as an individual, at a fixed 7.5% a year over one to five years (at November 2026). You repay it personally whether or not the business succeeds. If you trade through a limited company, you lend or invest the money into the company yourself.

How long does a business need to trade before a bank will lend?

There is no legal minimum. Each bank sets its own criteria, and some lend to limited companies only after a first set of accounts is filed. A funding search shows which lenders’ criteria a young company meets on trading age, sector and security.

Can a new limited company borrow without a personal guarantee?

It can when the loan is secured on something the company owns, such as the asset it buys with asset finance, though a lender may ask for a guarantee as well. For an unsecured loan to a new company, the directors’ guarantees are the lender’s main protection. Ask whether the guarantee can be capped at a set amount.

Start Up Loans

A Start Up Loan is a government-backed, unsecured personal loan of £500 to £25,000 for someone starting a business or running one that has traded for up to 60 months. At November 2026 the rate is fixed at 7.5% a year over a term of 1 to 5 years, with up to 12 months of mentoring included. You apply to the Start Up Loans scheme directly. The full answer.

Start-up business funding

A new business is funded from the founder’s own money, a government Start Up Loan, asset finance on vehicles and equipment, grants for specific projects and, for a company built to scale, equity from angel investors. Mainstream lenders judge affordability on filed accounts, so the choice of lenders widens once you have a trading record. The full answer.

Asset finance

Asset finance pays for equipment, vehicles and machinery in monthly instalments over the years you use them, with the asset as the funder’s main security. It comes as hire purchase, a finance lease, an operating lease, contract hire, or a refinance of equipment you already own. The five differ in who owns the asset, when you pay the VAT, who claims the tax allowances and what happens at the end of the term. The full answer.

Should I lend my own money to my company?

You can lend your company money as a director’s loan, with or without interest. Interest is a cost for the company and income for you, the company deducts income tax before paying it, and if the company fails you rank as an unsecured creditor unless you took security. The full answer.

Finance is subject to status and to the lender’s terms. A personal guarantee makes you liable for the company’s debt if it does not repay, and it can be enforced against your own assets, including your home. Nothing here is a personal recommendation.

Start a funding search

Start a funding search

Funding searches run on Swoop’s platform. Swoop Finance Limited is a credit broker and not a lender, and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 936513). Buzz Accounting Ltd introduces businesses to Swoop and may receive a fee from Swoop when funding is arranged. Business funding is separate from the financial advice Equity & General Financial Services Limited gives through this website. Finance is subject to status, and a lender may ask a director for a personal guarantee.

Cover for a personal guarantee

If a lender asks you to guarantee the company’s borrowing, our advisers can advise on life cover for that debt.

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