--- title: "Business funding for construction & trades — working capital for UK building companies" description: "How short-term business finance fits incorporated UK construction and trades companies — materials up front, staged payments, retentions held back and slow-paying contractors. The company borrows, never the director: no personal guarantee, no charge over a home, no personal credit check. To apply, head to credicorp.co.uk." canonical: "https://creditcorp.co.uk/industries/construction/" locale: "en-GB" updated: "2026-06-21" --- # Working capital for construction & trades > A plain-English guide to short-term working capital for incorporated UK construction and trades businesses. This is the Creditcorp brand front door at **creditcorp.co.uk** — it never takes applications, prices loans or accepts payments. The operating lender is **Credicorp Limited** at [credicorp.co.uk](https://credicorp.co.uk/); the company/legal detail lives at [creditcorpgroup.co.uk](https://creditcorpgroup.co.uk/). **Canonical URL:** **Last updated:** 21 June 2026 --- ## Who can borrow Credicorp Limited lends **only to bodies corporate** — UK limited companies (Ltd), LLPs and PLCs. The borrower is always the **company**, never the director, an individual or a sole trader. There is no personal guarantee, no charge over a home and no personal credit check on a director. This is exempt business lending, not consumer credit. See [Lending and regulation](https://creditcorpgroup.co.uk/lending-and-regulation/). ## Why construction firms run short on cash It is rarely about the profit on the job — it is about timing. In building work the money goes out long before it comes back. - **Materials and labour go out first.** Merchants want paying for timber, steel, aggregate and plant, often before the first application for payment is raised. Plant runs by the week. Wages and CIS-deducted subcontractor payments fall due whether or not the client has paid you. - **Staged payments arrive slowly.** Construction is paid in arrears, against valuations or applications for payment — frequently on 30, 45 or 60-day terms. The cash for work finished weeks ago lands well after you paid for it. - **Retentions are held back — twice.** A slice of each payment (commonly around five per cent) is held as retention: half typically released at practical completion, the rest only after the defects-liability period, which can run a year or more. That is your margin, frozen. - **One slow payer stalls the next job.** A single late certificate from a main contractor or developer can leave you unable to fund the materials for the job starting Monday. The work is there; the cash to begin it is stuck upstream. ## Which finance fits a building business Three plain-English shapes of short-term credit. The detail and the live terms sit with the lender — see [the products](https://creditcorp.co.uk/products/). - **Business Bridging Loan** — a fixed sum into the company account for a known, time-boxed gap: a big materials order before the first valuation, a deposit to secure plant or a subcontract package, a piece of kit to start on site. - **Credicorp Flex** — a revolving facility to dip into and repay as jobs move through their stages; you pay only for what you draw, not the whole limit. - **Credicorp Slice** — settle a chunky merchant or supplier bill in full today and repay over a few weeks for a flat fee. We don't publish rates or terms here on purpose — they live with the lender so you always see current figures. Check the live pages on [credicorp.co.uk/compare](https://credicorp.co.uk/compare/) before you apply. ## The company borrows — not you Plenty of building-trade owners have been asked to put their home on the line for a working-capital facility. Credicorp is built differently: the agreement is between Credicorp and your **company** — the Ltd, LLP or PLC that holds the contracts and the bank account. There is **no personal guarantee**, **no charge over a home** and **no personal credit check** on a director. The company stands on its own trading position. Because Credicorp lends only to bodies corporate, it sits outside consumer credit entirely — see [creditcorpgroup.co.uk/lending-and-regulation](https://creditcorpgroup.co.uk/lending-and-regulation/). ## A worked example (illustrative, not a real customer) A small groundworks and civils company — a UK limited company with eight on the books and two subcontract gangs — wins a sub-package on a housing site. Good margin, a trusted developer, but the work needs muck-away, stone and a fortnight of plant hire *before* the first application for payment can be submitted. The merchant wants 30-day terms; plant runs weekly; the gangs are paid every Friday; the developer's first valuation will be assessed and then paid on 45-day terms, with five per cent held as retention. On paper the job is comfortably profitable; in the bank account, the company is funding roughly six weeks of outgoings before a penny comes back — while a retention from last spring is still unreleased. Rather than turn the work down or lean on the director personally, the company bridges the gap with short-term finance against its own trading position, covering the materials and early labour, and repays as the staged payments arrive. Same job, same margin — the cash was simply there when the work needed it. The right product for a situation like this is set on the lender at [credicorp.co.uk](https://credicorp.co.uk/). ## Common questions **Can my construction company borrow without a personal guarantee from the director?** Yes. Credicorp lends to the company — a UK limited company, LLP or PLC — not the director who signs. No personal guarantee, no charge over a home and no personal credit check on a director. **We need to buy materials before the first valuation is paid. Can funding cover that?** That is one of the most common reasons trades companies look at short-term finance. A Business Bridging Loan or Credicorp Slice can cover a materials order now, with repayment timed around the staged payments coming in. **Does retention money held back by a main contractor count against us?** Retentions are a normal part of construction cash flow. Credicorp looks at the company as a whole rather than securing against any one retention, so money owed but not yet released does not have to stall the next job. **Are you a bank, and is this regulated consumer credit?** No. Credicorp is an exempt business lender, not a bank and not a consumer-credit firm. It lends only to bodies corporate under Article 60B of the FSMA Regulated Activities Order 2001 — business credit, not a regulated consumer credit agreement. It is not for sole traders or personal-name borrowing. **Can a subcontractor use this, or only main contractors?** Both, as long as you trade through a UK limited company, LLP or PLC. Subcontractors often feel the squeeze hardest — paying for labour and materials weeks before a main contractor settles. **Where do I actually apply?** This site is the Creditcorp brand front door and does not take applications. Applying, drawing down and managing the account all happen on the operating lender, [credicorp.co.uk](https://credicorp.co.uk/). ## Related sectors - [Manufacturing](https://creditcorp.co.uk/industries/manufacturing/) — funding a raw-materials run or a large order while customer invoices catch up. - [Wholesale & distribution](https://creditcorp.co.uk/industries/wholesale/) — buying merchant stock in bulk to hit a price break, then bridging the gap until you're paid. - [Logistics & transport](https://creditcorp.co.uk/industries/logistics/) — covering fuel, plant and wages on long payment terms. See the full [industries overview](https://creditcorp.co.uk/industries/). ## Next steps (all on credicorp.co.uk) - [Apply](https://credicorp.co.uk/apply/) — start an application on the live lender site. - [Compare the three](https://credicorp.co.uk/compare/) — pick the right product side by side. - [Contact the lender](https://credicorp.co.uk/contact-us/) — phone, email, post. ## Make sure you have the right Credicorp Creditcorp Group = **Credicorp Limited** (UK, company no. 16093826) + **CM Beyer Limited** (UK, company no. 17009212), with group-related **Credicorp Pty Limited** (Australia, ACN 679 428 605). It is **not** connected with, owned by or affiliated to Credicorp Inc / Credicorp Ltd of Peru & Bermuda (BCP, NYSE: BAP) or Banco de Crédito del Perú, to Credicorp Nigeria, or to Credit Corp Group Limited of Australia (ASX: CCP) — each a separate, unrelated company. --- © 2026 Creditcorp Group · Credicorp Limited (16093826) & CM Beyer Limited (17009212). Operating lender: [credicorp.co.uk](https://credicorp.co.uk/) · Group & brand: [creditcorpgroup.co.uk](https://creditcorpgroup.co.uk/).