Business loans for entrepreneurs

Published on 16 July 2026

Authors

Phillip Evans

Director

A 30-year career in finance, specifically in funding business growth and restructuring. With a love for creating fintech solutions, because accessing funding shouldn't be complicated.

Get the Right Business Loan Brokers Without the Banking Runaround

Only 47% of UK SME finance applications succeed. With tightening lending criteria and the decline of relationship-based banking, most businesses waste weeks chasing rejections from unsuitable lenders. Enable Finance is the commercial finance broker that connects your business with the right finance from over 80 specialist lenders - faster, with expert support, and without the guesswork.

This guide is for UK SMEs, business owners, and finance professionals seeking expert support in securing business loans. With approval rates dropping, finding the right broker is more important than ever.

A Business Loan Broker Built for UK SMEs

A business loan broker connects businesses with suitable funding options by matching them to lenders that fit their needs. Brokers access a wider network of lenders compared to individual businesses and help match businesses with suitable funding options, helping them avoid repeated bank rejections and find the right finance faster. If you've spent days filling out bank applications only to receive a generic decline letter, you already know the system isn't built for you. A business loan broker helps by matching your business with lenders that fit your circumstances, rather than sending you through the same bank process again and again. The traditional bank manager who understood your business is gone. In their place, rigid automated scoring that overlooks your potential and ignores your circumstances.

You're far from alone. UK SME owners, finance brokers, lenders, and businesses looking for working capital, urgent funding, complex finance, or specialist funding are all dealing with a tighter market, where approval rates for external finance have dropped from roughly 62% in 2022 to just 47% in 2024. The median amount sought by SME employers sits at £40,000 - yet many never reach funding because they applied to the wrong lender in the first place. That makes choosing the right route to finance just as important as the application itself.

Enable Finance was built to eliminate that frustration. As a business loan broker and business finance broker operating since 2002, we help businesses and intermediaries compare broader business finance options before they apply, then combine deep industry knowledge with AI-powered lender matching across more than 80 specialist lenders to identify the best fit faster. Whether you need a straightforward business loan, secured or unsecured funding, invoice factoring, bridging loans, working capital, or specialist post-insolvency finance such as CVA and pre-pack administration support, or whether you're a broker or lender looking at finance sourcing technology and better lender-broker matching, the aim is the same: fewer wasted applications, better-fit lenders, and funding that matches how your business actually operates.

Why Enable Finance Works

Here's what makes us different from going it alone or using a generic comparison site, with practical benefits that come from broker-led funding support:

AI-Powered Lender Matching

• AI-Powered Lender Matching – Our technology scans real-time lending criteria across our full lender panel, instantly identifying which lenders are most likely to approve your application based on your specific business structure, trading history, and borrowing requirements.

Access to 150+ Specialist Lenders

• Access to 150+ Specialist Lenders – Brokers connect businesses with over 150 lenders for quick financing, including many specialist lenders that don't accept direct applications. This access comes through multiple lenders on the panel, giving you funding options you simply cannot reach on your own.

Expert Guidance That Gets Results

• Expert Guidance That Gets Results – Business loan brokers can improve the likelihood of loan approval by structuring applications effectively. Our team knows exactly what each lender looks for and packages your case accordingly.
• No Upfront Fees, No Credit Score Impact – Brokers can reduce the impact on a client's credit score by using soft credit searches during the matching stage. Brokers often charge fees that may be paid by the lender rather than the borrower - meaning you pay nothing up front.

Specialist Finance for Complex Situations

• Specialist Finance for Complex Situations – From CVA and pre-pack administration funding to post-insolvency recovery and equipment finance, we handle the cases other businesses' finance brokers turn away.

Instead of forcing you through a one-size-fits-all bank application process, we give you a streamlined path to securing funding that actually fits your business needs, aligned with wider UK small business finance policy and government support.

How It Works

Getting funded doesn't require complexity. Our process is designed to move from initial conversation to money in your account as efficiently as possible.

Step 1: Tell Us About Your Business

We start with a straightforward assessment of your business - turnover, income, sector, trading history, what you need the funding for, credit history, and any circumstances that might affect lending criteria (including previous financial difficulties). This takes minutes, not hours, and professional brokers use soft searches to assess your options without affecting your credit score.

Step 2: AI-Powered Lender Matching

Our technology analyses your profile against live criteria from our full panel of lenders. Within hours, you receive a comparison of suitable business finance solutions aligned with your business goals - from secured and unsecured business loans to invoice finance and bridging facilities, helping you prepare a stronger business loan application for suitable financing. You see competitive rates, terms, and realistic approval likelihood before committing to anything, supported by insights from our wider finance and business resources for UK SMEs.

Step 3: Expert-Guided Application

Once you've chosen the right finance option, our experienced team of expert brokers helps identify the right solution before and during application handling, then manages the paperwork for you. We coordinate directly with the lender's underwriting team, respond to queries, and keep everything moving until funds reach your account. Working with brokers can save time because business loan brokers save time by managing the application process for clients.

No guesswork. No wasted applications. Just structured progress toward the funding your business needs.

What Makes Us Different

Most alternatives focus on features. We focus on outcomes.

• 20+ Years of UK Commercial Finance Expertise – Enable Finance has been operating since 2002. We've navigated recessions, COVID, and every lending market shift in between. Generic online platforms can't match this depth of expertise in commercial finance.
• AI Technology Combined with Human Judgment – Purely automated systems miss nuance. Our technology handles the matching at speed; our commercial finance brokers handle the negotiation, structuring, and relationship management that gets difficult deals over the line. That human element also helps secure better interest rates and terms with lenders. Brokers have expertise in lenders' criteria, improving application suitability.
• Specialist Lenders for Situations Banks Won't Touch – We work with both traditional lenders and specialist lenders, but specialist appetite matters most when funding businesses with impaired credit, those in CVA or pre-pack administration, and companies in sectors banks view as high risk. They have access to a wide range of specialist lenders that include providers specialising in business recovery and turnaround and invoice factoring solutions used by over 55,000 UK businesses.

If other brokers offer volume, we offer precision. If banks offer rigidity, we provide tailored services built around your reality.

Proof That It Works

Results speak louder than claims.

The UK invoice finance market now advances £22.7 billion annually across over 40,000 businesses - demonstrating the scale of demand for alternatives to traditional bank lending such as invoice factoring and invoice discounting. Meanwhile, bank lending growth to the smallest SMEs (turnover under £2 million) increased nearly 30% in recent approvals, showing that funding is available - but only when you apply to the right lender with the right application at the right time to protect trading momentum and support sales.

• Funding solutions delivered across every major UK sector, from manufacturing and construction to recruitment and transport
• Complex turnaround deals for businesses emerging from insolvency where mainstream lenders had declined
• Fast-tracked applications delivering funding in days rather than the weeks typical of direct bank approaches
• Award winning service across corporate turnaround funding and cash flow facilities since 2002

Brokers help businesses avoid unsuitable finance products - and our approach ensures every application goes to a lender predisposed to say yes.

Who It's For

UK businesses seeking working capital

Whether you need to manage cash flow, fund stock, pay tax obligations, support research and development, or invest in growth and expanding operations, working capital finance can help a business grow and seize opportunities; common options arranged by brokers include working capital loans and invoice finance for small businesses.

Companies needing urgent funding

Business bridging loans provide fast, short-term funding solutions for time-sensitive opportunities or emergencies via our bridging loan service, giving businesses the necessary funds for short-term needs when speed matters, whether through secured or unsecured business bridging loans.

Businesses with complex or challenging funding needs

Including post-insolvency, CVA, pre-pack administration, bad credit situations, limited trading history, or intellectual property-heavy businesses.

Property investors and commercial buyers

Commercial mortgages finance property purchases for business investment through monthly repayments, helping businesses support property investment while building long-term equity.

Finance brokers

Seeking AI-powered sourcing technology and access to specialist lenders for their own clients.

Larger businesses and SMEs

Across construction, recruitment, manufacturing, logistics, and other industries with demanding payment cycles, for business owners at larger businesses and SMEs, where the right working capital finance supports business growth and helps firms seize opportunities.

If you want the right finance matched to your business objectives without the banking runaround, Enable Finance was built for you.

Service Options & Fees

Transparency is central to how we work. Brokers simplify the loan application process for businesses - and our fee structure reflects that simplicity.

Direct Business Funding

For businesses seeking funding directly, we act as your commercial finance broker, managing the entire journey from assessment to drawdown. Our business finance solutions include unsecured loans, asset finance, invoice financing, and working capital loans. Brokers can also help identify alternative finance solutions beyond traditional loans.

Our service covers:

• Full business assessment and lender matching
• Application preparation, submission, and management
• Negotiation of terms and competitive rates on your behalf
• Ongoing support through to funds reaching your account

Secured business loans range from £25,000 to £5 million+. Because lender risk is reduced, they can offer more favorable rates, with terms considered on a case by case basis. Unsecured business loans range from £5,000 to £750,000. Brokers may charge fees for their services or receive commissions from lenders, but with our service fees are typically paid by the lender upon successful funding - not by you.

Broker Technology Platform

For other businesses operating as finance brokers, our AI-powered platform provides live lender criteria, automated matching, and sourcing tools across our full panel. This lets brokers deliver faster, more accurate results to their own clients while accessing specialist lenders they may not have direct relationships with, including expert-led bridging loans guidance for UK property transactions.

Features include real-time criteria updates, decision-in-principle tools, and compliance-ready documentation support. Contact us for broker partner pricing.

Specialist Funding Solutions

For complex situations - CVA funding, pre-pack administration finance, turnaround capital, bespoke structures, or stock finance - we provide a consultation-led approach. Asset-based lending can use multiple business assets, including receivables and inventory, to release capital in line with business needs, with facilities typically ranging from £25,000 to over £5 million. These solutions are tailored to individual circumstances, working alongside insolvency practitioners and specialist lenders where necessary.

Custom pricing based on complexity and funding requirements.

Frequently Asked Questions

How quickly can we secure funding?

Timelines vary by funding type and complexity. Fast funding options include:

• Merchant cash advances for B2C businesses
• Straightforward unsecured loans (can be completed in days)
• Asset finance, invoice factoring, or turnaround funding (may take one to three weeks, depending on documentation readiness and lender underwriting)
• Invoice finance can typically be set up in around six working days

Will applying affect our credit score?

• No – not during our initial assessment and matching stage. Brokers can reduce the impact on a client's credit score by using soft credit searches, which don't appear on your credit file.
• A hard credit check only occurs when you've chosen a lender and formally proceed with a full application, and only with your knowledge.

What if our business has been through insolvency?

This is one of our core specialisms. We work with specialist lenders experienced in funding businesses that have been through CVA, pre-pack administration, or other forms of restructuring. They provide tailored funding solutions based on business needs, which can include refinancing existing debt where appropriate, though terms will reflect the additional risk involved. Our team works alongside insolvency practitioners to structure viable applications, and established companies may also use asset-based structures to release capital from receivables and inventory after restructuring. Read more about factoring during business recovery.

Do we need security for business loans?

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Asset finance includes finance leasing and hire purchase options, and can fund vehicles, machinery, and equipment purchases. Businesses can access asset finance from £25,000 to £5 million, helping spread the cost of large purchases over time, including comprehensive fleet finance options. Some secured lending can also use business assets such as receivables, inventory, or property as collateral, allowing capital release from receivables and inventory and letting firms leverage multiple asset classes. In some cases, personal assets may also support a business loan where appropriate, and secured borrowing often offers more favourable rates because the lender's risk is lower.

How does invoice finance work?

Invoice finance helps manage cash flow by releasing capital tied up in unpaid invoices. Rather than waiting 30, 60, or 90 days for customers to pay, you receive an advance against outstanding invoices - typically up to 90% of their value, often within 24–48 hours, and many businesses follow a structured implementation guide for integrating invoice factoring into their operations.

Invoice finance structures:

• Lump sum loan: Receive a one-off advance against invoices, making the choice of the right invoice factoring company critical to cost, service quality, and flexibility.
• Revolving credit facilities: Flexible access to capital as needed as invoices are raised and paid, but understanding invoice factoring costs and fee structures is essential before committing.

Invoice finance provides access to capital tied up in invoices and helps manage cash flow for B2B companies. As a form of business lending, specialist help can tailor invoice finance to your business needs, and it's used by over 40,000 UK businesses.

What does a broker actually do that I can't?

• Negotiates better loan terms due to industry relationships
• Knows each lender's specific lending criteria, appetite, and quirks
• Increases access to a broader range of funding options
• Provides tailored advice for businesses with complex financing needs
• Handles the entire application process
• Helps you compare business finance brokers with expertise in your specific industry

In the UK, brokers must be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority where regulated activities apply, and researching your options can also include resources such as the British Business Bank. Enable Finance provides a commercial service backed by two decades of market expertise to help businesses secure the right funding.

Get Started Today

If you're ready to stop chasing rejections and start achieving the funding your business deserves, the next step takes less than five minutes.

Tell us about your business, your borrowing amount, and your objectives. We'll match you with the right lenders, structure your application for maximum approval likelihood, and guide you through to funding.

No upfront cost. No obligation. No credit score impact. Just expert support from a business finance broker that's been helping UK businesses secure the right finance since 2002.

Business loan brokers connect businesses with suitable funding options - let us connect yours.