UK Commercial Finance

Where does the money actually come from?

If you run a business or invest in property in the UK, you have probably asked that question. The answers are scattered across hundreds of lenders, a dozen product categories and a great deal of sales patter.

This is the map. Written by a commercial finance broker who spent more than a decade in banking before moving to the other side of the desk, it sets out in plain English what is actually available in 2026, what it costs, what a lender will want to see, and where the traps are.

No jargon. No brochure language. No pretending that expensive money is cheap. Where a product is the wrong answer, it says so.

What you will learn

• Business funding, properly explained - unsecured and secured loans, overdrafts and revolving credit, invoice finance and factoring, asset finance and refinance, merchant cash advances, stock and trade finance, and VAT and tax funding
• Property and development finance - bridging loans, ground-up development, title splitting, buy-to-let, HMOs, holiday lets and serviced accommodation, semi-commercial, and commercial mortgages
• What things really cost - worked examples showing how a merchant cash advance priced at 20% actually costs nearer 40%, how one point of stress rate moves your buy-to-let borrowing by £28,000, and how a 10% rise in build costs takes a third off what a development site is worth
• Personal guarantees - what you are signing, how to cap it, and the insurance most directors have never heard of
• The 2026 rules that change everything - the Renters' Rights Act, the October 2030 EPC deadline, the revised commercial MEES timetable
• Why deals stall - and the median times from enquiry to drawdown that nobody tells you
• How to escape a debt spiral - why stacking short-term loans destroys otherwise healthy businesses, and the four questions to ask before adding another facility
• A career in commercial finance - the routes in, the qualifications that matter, what the job actually involves, and how brokers are paid

Also written for the people who get asked

Accountants and finance professionals get the product knowledge and current cost ranges to answer client funding questions properly. Finance directors and financial controllers get working capital, covenant and asset refinance material with the arithmetic shown rather than described. Mortgage and finance advisers considering commercial work get a map of the territory next door, including the qualification and regulatory position for making the move. Students and lecturers in business, finance and real estate get a book built for teaching: standalone chapters, key takeaways, a glossary of over a hundred terms, a full index, and worked examples designed to be interrogated.

Written for people who need an answer, not a lecture

Forty-six chapters and a quick-reference table that sends you straight to the chapter you need. Read it cover to cover or use it as a desk reference when a decision lands in front of you.

If you have ever been declined without being told why, been offered a rate you could not justify, or signed something you did not fully understand, this book was written for you.

Marcus Wright is the founder of Bolton Business Finance Ltd, an independent commercial finance brokerage in Greater Manchester, and a business owner and property investor himself. He is quoted regularly in the national and trade press on business lending, property finance and the wider economy.