Eligibility
Can a new or recently-incorporated company get a business loan?
Short answer: often yes — but it depends on your trading record, not your age on paper. Credicorp lends £50 to £500 to UK limited companies and LLPs, and a young company with a few months of real activity can qualify. Interest is 0.25% per day on the principal plus a £5 one-off fee, and the total cost is capped at 100% of the amount borrowed. A company incorporated yesterday with no bank activity usually cannot borrow yet — but that is a "not yet", not a "no".
UK limited companies and LLPs · No personal guarantee · Decisions most working days
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Short-term business loan · £50–£500 · 14–84 days · 0.25% per day simple interest + £5 fee · cost capped at 100%.
The honest answer
There is no rule that says a company must be a certain number of years old to borrow from us. We are a business lender, not a consumer lender, and we assess the company in front of us — how it trades today, not how long it has existed. What matters is evidence: a current UK business bank account with real money moving through it, a short but genuine trading record, and a clear reason for the borrowing. A company that incorporated a few months ago and has been invoicing and banking since can be a strong applicant. A company registered last week with an empty account has nothing for us to assess yet — that is not a "no" forever, it is a "not yet".
- We lend to the company, not to you personally — so this is not about your personal credit score.
- We look at how the business actually trades now, not at years of filed annual accounts.
- A few months of real bank activity matters far more than the date on your incorporation certificate.
- Brand-new with no trading yet usually means "come back once you have a track record", not a permanent no.
What we actually assess
Our decision is data-led and built for businesses that are too young for a traditional bank to score easily. Here is what goes into it.
- Your business bank account, via Open Banking With your permission, we read your business current account through secure Open Banking — a read-only, FCA-regulated connection you can revoke at any time. Recent transactions tell us more about a young company than any credit file: income coming in, bills going out, and whether the account is run sensibly. We never see your login details.
- Behavioural and cashflow signals We look at the shape of your trading — how regularly money lands, how steady your outgoings are, and whether the requested amount fits the rhythm of the business. For a new company this pattern is the single most useful thing we have, because it reflects how you operate right now rather than a history you have not had time to build.
- The company's own record We check the company at Companies House and against business credit reference data — the company's record, not the director's personal file. A clean, active, correctly-filed company helps; a dormant or struck-off-pending one does not. Being newly incorporated is neutral here — there is simply less to check, so the bank-account evidence carries more weight.
- Affordability and purpose We size any offer to what the business can comfortably repay from its own trading, over a short term. A clear, sensible purpose — bridging a known bill, buying stock for a confirmed order, covering a timing gap — makes for a stronger application than an open-ended request with no plan to repay.
Before you start, it helps to know what documents we might ask you to provide .
What helps your application
None of these are hard rules, and you do not need all of them. But each one gives us more to say yes to — especially for a younger company.
- A UK business bank account that has been used for real trading, not just opened and left empty.
- A few months of activity you can evidence through Open Banking — regular income is worth more than a big one-off.
- The company filed and active at Companies House, with directors and registered details up to date.
- A specific, short-term purpose for the money and a clear sense of how trading will repay it.
- Borrowing an amount that fits your turnover — a request in proportion to your takings is easier to approve.
- Keeping business and personal money separate — it makes your trading record far easier for us to read.
If you have only just incorporated
If the company is days or weeks old with little or no banking yet, you are probably too early for us today — but you are building exactly the record we need. The fastest route to a yes is to trade through your business account: invoice, get paid into it, pay your suppliers from it, and let a short, honest pattern accumulate. A handful of weeks of genuine activity can move you from "nothing to assess" to "a real application". If you are still a sole trader, the same logic applies once you incorporate — we lend to limited companies and LLPs, not to individuals or sole traders, so incorporating first is the prerequisite.
- Run all your trading through the business bank account from day one — it is the evidence we read.
- Build a short, steady pattern of income and outgoings rather than a single large transaction.
- Keep Companies House details accurate and your filings on time — a tidy company record helps.
- Sole traders: incorporate first. We cannot lend to an individual, only to the body corporate.
What a first short-term loan could look like
Say a young company borrows £500 and clears it over 42 days from a few weeks of takings. With 0.25% per day simple interest on the principal and a £5 one-off establishment fee, here is the whole cost — every figure is from our live pricing.
- Amount borrowed
- £500
- Term
- 42 days
- One-off establishment fee
- £5
- Interest (simple, on principal)
- £52.50
- Total to repay
- £557.50
- Roughly per week
- £92.92 over 6 payments
Illustration only, not a quote. Use the calculator to price your own amount and term.
Short-term borrowing is expensive relative to long-term bank lending — only borrow what the business genuinely needs and can repay quickly. Total cost is capped at 100% of the amount borrowed, so you will never repay more than double. Lending is to the company; there is no personal guarantee.
Who can apply
- A UK limited company or LLP (we lend to the body corporate — not to sole traders or individuals).
- A current UK business bank account with recent trading activity we can read via Open Banking.
- A short but genuine trading record — there is no fixed minimum age, but an empty new company is too early.
- A director identity check (you act as the company's authorised representative, not as a personal borrower).
- No personal guarantee required — the obligation sits with the company.
Helpful guide: Do I need to be VAT-registered or trading long to apply?
New-company eligibility — questions
Can a company that was incorporated this year get a business loan?
Often, yes. Credicorp does not set a fixed minimum company age. What we need is a genuine trading record we can read — a UK business bank account with recent activity through Open Banking. A company incorporated earlier this year that has been invoicing and banking can be a strong applicant; a company registered this week with an empty account is usually too early.
How long does my company need to have been trading?
There is no fixed minimum company age or trading period. We assess the trading record you can evidence through Open Banking rather than a set number of years, so a few months of genuine bank activity can be enough. Loans run from £50 to £500 over 14 to 84 days, sized to what the business can repay from its own trading. A company with no activity yet is usually too early — build a short, real record through your business account first.
Do you check my personal credit score?
No. Credicorp lends to the company, not to you personally, so the decision is about the business — its bank account, its trading and its Companies House record — not your personal credit file. We carry out a director identity check because you act as the company's authorised representative, but there is no personal guarantee and the obligation is the company's.
Is this regulated consumer credit, and is my personal credit at risk?
No. Credicorp lends only to UK limited companies and LLPs under the body-corporate exemption in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001. It is not a regulated consumer credit agreement, the Financial Ombudsman Service and Financial Services Compensation Scheme do not apply, and there is no personal guarantee — the obligation is the company's.
What does a first short-term loan cost?
It depends on the amount you borrow and how long you take to repay. Interest is 0.25% per day on the principal (simple, not compounding), plus a £5 one-off establishment fee, and the total cost is capped at 100% of the amount borrowed — so you never repay more than double. As a worked example, borrowing £500 over 42 days repays £557.50 in total. Paying early reduces the cost.
I am a sole trader — can I get a business loan?
Not as a sole trader. Credicorp lends to incorporated businesses only — limited companies and LLPs. If you trade as a sole trader you would need to incorporate first, then build a short trading record through the company's bank account before this finance is available. Speak to your accountant about whether incorporating is right for your business.
My company has no filed accounts yet — does that rule us out?
No. A young company often has no full set of filed accounts, and we do not rely on them. We read how the business trades now through Open Banking and check the company's record at Companies House. Missing first-year accounts is normal for a new company and does not, by itself, stop you applying — the bank-account evidence simply carries more weight.
Check if your company qualifies
A quick eligibility check tells you where your company stands before you apply — no impact on anyone's personal credit, and most full decisions come back the same working day.
Credicorp lends to UK limited companies and LLPs under the body-corporate exemption (Articles 60B and 60L of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001). This is not consumer lending; the worked example above is illustrative and not a personalised quote. The Financial Ombudsman Service and Financial Services Compensation Scheme do not apply. Full details: regulatory status and responsible lending policy.