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Working capital for the consult room.
A vet practice spends on the equipment, the drugs and the staff long before the insurer settles — a new scanner, a theatre fit-out, a wholesaler order. These plain-English notes look at how short-term finance fits a UK veterinary company, and on every one, the company borrows, never you personally. No personal guarantee.
A veterinary practice carries a hospital’s worth of capital cost on a small business’s cash flow. The imaging, the analysers, the theatre, the drug fridge and the team are all paid for up front — while a large share of the income arrives later, once a pet insurer has processed the claim.
Creditcorp is the growing name for the Credicorp group, and Credicorp Limited is the lender behind it. It does one thing: short-term working capital for incorporated UK businesses. This page is a guide, not an application — when you’re ready, applying happens on the lender’s own site, credicorp.co.uk.
Throughout, the borrower is the company — a UK private limited company (Ltd), LLP or PLC — not the vet or director who signs. No personal guarantee, no charge over a home, no personal credit check on a director. These are not personal loans, payday loans or sole-trader finance.
Where the cash-flow gaps come from
Few small businesses tie up as much capital as a vet clinic, and a chunk of the income lags the cost. Four pressure points show up again and again.
Diagnostic equipment
Ultrasound, digital radiography, a CT or endoscopy stack, in-house haematology and biochemistry analysers — the kit that lets a practice diagnose in-house rather than refer is a major outlay. It earns its keep through imaging and lab fees, but the machine, the install and the training are all paid for long before the first scan is billed.
Premises, theatres and fit-outs
A new consult room, an extra operating theatre, kennelling, an isolation ward or a second branch is a one-off build with a clear payback — more capacity and more cases. But the bill lands in a lump, the building work eats into trading space while it runs, and the new capacity takes weeks to fill.
Drug stock, vaccines and consumables
A practice carries a pharmacy: prescription medicines, vaccines, anaesthetics, prescription diets, surgical consumables and PPE. Wholesalers want paying on their terms, stocking up before a busy season or a flea-and-worm push means money out now, and short-dated lines can’t simply be over-ordered to smooth the cash flow.
Pet-insurer payment timing
Where a clinic settles claims directly, the treatment, the drugs and the staff time all go out the door before the insurer pays. Across a busy quarter that lag can leave real money sitting in claims processing while the wholesaler bill and the payroll run are due now, not when the insurer gets round to it.
Which kind of finance fits a practice
Three shapes of short-term working capital, and how each tends to land in a vet practice. The detail — amounts, pricing, terms — lives on the products page and with the lender; we won’t quote figures here.
A Business Bridging Loan — for a known, one-off cost
A single lump sum, repaid over a short fixed term. It fits the veterinary jobs you can put a figure on: a diagnostic machine, a theatre or consult-room fit-out, a branch refurbishment, a big seasonal drug order. You know the cost and you can see the case income that will clear it. More on the Bridging Loan →
Credicorp Flex — for the insurer lag and the restock rhythm
A revolving facility the company can draw on, repay and draw again. This suits a practice’s natural pattern — covering wages and stock while a quarter of claims sits with the insurers, topping up the dispensary in waves, dipping in for a busy month and paying down in the quiet weeks — without arranging fresh finance each time. More on Credicorp Flex →
Credicorp Slice — for a single wholesaler bill
Spread one supplier invoice over a few weeks while the supplier is paid in full today. Handy when a drug-wholesaler or equipment bill lands at an awkward moment and you’d rather smooth it across the weeks of treatment and dispensing that follow. More on Credicorp Slice →
The company borrows — not you
Plenty of practice principals have already signed personal guarantees they didn’t love — a premises lease, an equipment lease, a practice-management software contract. The Credicorp model is the other way round: the agreement is between Credicorp Limited and your company, so the finance itself doesn’t add to what’s pinned to your own name.
- No personal guarantee — the company is the borrower, full stop.
- No charge over your home — your house isn’t security for a scanner or drug stock.
- No personal credit check on a director — the lender looks at the business, not your own file.
- Bodies corporate only — UK Ltd, LLP or PLC, never a sole trader or an individual.
This is exempt business lending under Article 60B of the FSMA Regulated Activities Order 2001, not consumer credit. The full regulatory position — and the company and trade-mark detail behind the group — is set out on the group site, creditcorpgroup.co.uk.
A worked example
An illustration, not a real customer — just to show the shape of it in a veterinary practice.
A small-animal practice trading as a UK limited company runs two clinics. The principal wants to bring ultrasound in-house rather than refer every case: the scanner, the install and the training are a known cost, and the imaging fees it will earn are clear — but they arrive case by case over the months ahead, not on the day the kit is delivered. On top of that, a busy quarter has left a stack of pet-insurer claims in processing, while the drug-wholesaler bill and the payroll run are both due now.
Because the scanner is a one-off cost with a clear payback, a fixed-term Business Bridging Loan to the company fits the equipment buy: a known sum, repaid over the imaging weeks that earn it back. For the insurer lag and the dispensary top-up that recur every quarter, a Credicorp Flex facility lets the practice draw to cover wages and stock and pay down as the claims settle. Both agreements are with the company, so the principal gives no personal guarantee and puts no charge over their home.
Veterinary funding questions
The questions practice owners ask most. For anything specific to your business, the lender’s team are at credicorp.co.uk.
Can my veterinary company borrow for a diagnostic machine — ultrasound, digital X-ray, in-house analysers?
Yes — a piece of diagnostic kit is exactly the kind of known, one-off outlay short-term finance is built for. You can see what it costs and you can see the consult, imaging and lab income it earns once it is in the building. A Business Bridging Loan suits a single machine; if you are kitting out a whole room over a season, Credicorp Flex lets you draw as each item lands. The lender confirms what fits at credicorp.co.uk.
We wait weeks on pet-insurer claims — can funding bridge that?
That gap is one of the most common reasons a clinic reaches for working capital. When you settle a claim directly, the treatment, the drugs and the staff time all go out the door before the insurer pays. Bridging the lag lets the practice keep stock on the shelf and wages paid without the insurer’s timetable setting yours. Credicorp Flex suits a recurring gap; a Bridging Loan suits a single large quarter. Timing sits with the lender.
Will I have to give a personal guarantee or a charge over my home?
No. Credicorp lends to the company — your UK limited company, LLP or PLC — not to you as a vet or a director. There is no personal guarantee, no charge over a home and no personal credit check on a director. For a practice principal who already signed personally for premises or an equipment lease, keeping this funding off your own name is a real difference.
Can it cover drug stock, vaccines and consumables ahead of a busy stretch?
Yes. Buying drugs, vaccines, prescription diets and surgical consumables in is a working-capital use like any other — you pay the wholesaler now and earn it back across the dispensing and treatment weeks that follow. Credicorp Slice can spread a single large wholesaler invoice while the supplier is paid in full today; Credicorp Flex suits a practice that restocks in waves.
We are fitting out a new branch or a new theatre — does that work?
A consult room build, a new operating theatre, kennelling, an isolation ward or a second branch is a one-off cost with a clear payback: more capacity, more cases, more income once the doors open. Because the cost is known up front, a fixed-term Bridging Loan to the company often fits a fit-out cleanly. The lender confirms what suits your case.
Is this a consumer loan or a payday loan?
Neither. This is business credit to a body corporate, not consumer credit, and it is not for sole traders or anyone borrowing in their own name. Under Article 60B of the FSMA Regulated Activities Order 2001, lending to a UK company sits outside the consumer-credit regime. The full position is on the group site, creditcorpgroup.co.uk.
More general questions are answered on the FAQ, and the whole journey is on the how-it-works overview.
Related sectors
A vet practice shares its capital-heavy, payment-lagged cash-flow shape with its neighbours in clinical care.
- Healthcare & dental — the same equipment cost and the same wait between treatment and payment from plans or the NHS.
- Professional services — another practice model, bridging the lag between work done and fees paid.
- Agriculture & farming — the farm-animal side of the same client base, carrying a long gap between outlay and income.
Or browse the whole set on the industries hub. Company and legal detail for the group lives on creditcorpgroup.co.uk.
Ready when you are
Whatever your practice needs funding for, applying, drawing down and managing your account all happen on the lender’s site, credicorp.co.uk.