How much can my limited company borrow?
“How much can I borrow?” is the first question almost everyone asks, and most funding websites answer it with a range so wide it is useless.
Here is how the number is actually arrived at, what our own limits are, and how to work out roughly where you will land before you apply to anyone.
The short answer
We advance £10,000 to £75,000 from our own book. Above £75,000 we arrange the facility with one of our lending partners rather than funding it ourselves.
Within that range, the figure is driven mainly by monthly turnover. As a rough guide, advances tend to sit somewhere between one and two months of turnover — a business turning over £15,000 a month is usually looking at £15,000 to £30,000 rather than £75,000.
What moves the number up or down
- Monthly turnover. The single biggest factor. Repayments are weekly, so the question is what your revenue comfortably supports each week.
- Time trading. Six months is our minimum. A company trading three years with filed accounts is a different proposition from one trading seven months, even at identical turnover.
- Existing commitments. Other advances, loans or a heavy overdraft all reduce what is left to service a new facility.
- Bank conduct. Returned direct debits and sustained unauthorised overdraft use matter more than a credit score does.
Worked examples
What the weekly commitment actually looks like at three points in the range:
| 20 weeks (1.48) | 26 weeks (1.55) | |
|---|---|---|
| Advance | £10,000 | £10,000 |
| You receive (after 5% fee) | £9,500 | £9,500 |
| Total repayable | £14,800 | £15,500 |
| Weekly payment | £740 | £596 |
| Total cost | £5,300 | £6,000 |
| 20 weeks (1.48) | 26 weeks (1.55) | |
|---|---|---|
| Advance | £25,000 | £25,000 |
| You receive (after 5% fee) | £23,750 | £23,750 |
| Total repayable | £37,000 | £38,750 |
| Weekly payment | £1,850 | £1,490 |
| Total cost | £13,250 | £15,000 |
| 20 weeks (1.48) | 26 weeks (1.55) | |
|---|---|---|
| Advance | £50,000 | £50,000 |
| You receive (after 5% fee) | £47,500 | £47,500 |
| Total repayable | £74,000 | £77,500 |
| Weekly payment | £3,700 | £2,981 |
| Total cost | £26,500 | £30,000 |
The useful test is the weekly figure, not the total. Look at your quietest recent week and ask whether that payment would have cleared comfortably.
The minimums, stated plainly
- A UK limited company or LLP registered at Companies House
- At least six months trading
- At least £25,000 a month turnover
Below any of those we cannot help, and we would rather say so on this page than after you have spent time on an application. Sole traders and ordinary partnerships are outside what we do.
Above £75,000
We do not fund advances above £75,000 from our own book. Where the amount needed is larger, we act as an intermediary and arrange the facility with a lending partner. The terms in that case are the partner's, not ours, and we tell you which route you are on before anything is signed.
Questions, answered plainly
How much can a UK limited company borrow from Solvo?
Between £10,000 and £75,000 from our own book. Above £75,000 we arrange the facility with a lending partner rather than funding it ourselves.
What decides the size of my advance?
Mainly monthly turnover, then time trading, existing commitments and bank conduct. Advances commonly land between one and two months of turnover.
What is the minimum turnover?
£25,000 a month, alongside at least six months trading and registration as a UK limited company or LLP.
Can I borrow if I have only been trading four months?
Not with us — six months trading is a firm minimum. It is worth returning once you have six months of bank statements behind you.
Do you lend to sole traders?
No. We fund incorporated businesses only: UK limited companies and LLPs.
Related
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