Loans to start, grow and strengthen your business
Funding from £500 to £250,000, backed by people who take the time to understand your business ambitions, not just your credit score.
Growing businesses Strengthening communities
As a not-for-profit lender, every loan we deliver helps ambitious businesses grow while supporting jobs, opportunity and long term economic impact.
Why businesses choose BEF
People first
Real people, not automated decisions.
The bigger picture
We look beyond the numbers and your credit score.
Fair finance
Loans designed to help businesses move forward.
Community impact
Every repayment helps us support more businesses.
How funding with BEF works
Use our Finance Finder to discover the funding options that could be right for your business.
Tell us about your business, your goals and the funding you're looking for.
A dedicated point of contact who will guide you through the process.
Access the funding you need and take the next step in your business journey.
What funding does your business need?
Turn your business idea into reality with funding and support from day one.
Create breathing space and keep your business moving with confidence.
Invest in people, equipment, marketing or expansion.
Replace expensive short-term borrowing with a more sustainable funding solution.
Funding built around your business
| BEF | Traditional lenders | |
|---|---|---|
| Decisions |
Decisions
Human judgement
|
Decisions
Automated scoring
|
| Approach |
Approach
Understands your plans
|
Approach
Focused on the numbers
|
| Support |
Support
Personal & ongoing
|
Support
Transactional
|
| Assessment |
Assessment
Bigger picture
|
Assessment
Led by criteria
|
| Pricing |
Pricing
Fair & transparent
|
Pricing
Headline rates
|
| Purpose |
Purpose
Help you start or grow
|
Purpose
Generate returns
|
| Impact |
Impact
Community focused
|
Impact
Shareholder focused
|
In the last 12 months
Invested in businesses like yours
Added to the regional economy
Jobs created or protected
New UK founders backed
Things founders and business owners ask us
We're not a bank or a short term lender. We're a not-for-profit lender focused on helping businesses start, grow and move forward.
Better outcomes through partnership
We work with trusted partners across the business support community to help more businesses access the funding and support they need to succeed.