Business finance
by city
Flowzo is a national broker. We arrange business loans, credit lines and invoice finance for limited companies and LLPs anywhere in the UK, by phone and online, with no local branches. These pages show how ten cities differ, using official figures, and where each one’s free support is.
No credit check to enquire.
One panel, wherever the business is
- We are a national broker
Flowzo arranges business finance for limited companies and LLPs across the UK, from our registered address in North Yorkshire. We have no branches, so no city gets a better or worse service for being near or far from us.
- Lenders decide on figures, not postcodes
What a lender on our panel weighs up is how long you have traded, how the account behaves month to month, what the accounts show and, where invoices are involved, who your debtors are. Where you are based is not one of the tests.
- So why have city pages at all?
Because a city’s mix of businesses changes which finance tends to fit. A city full of shops and bars needs different help from one full of consultancies and fabricators, and the free local support is different in each place.
- Everything is done remotely
An enquiry takes about a minute. Then a call, a secure upload of statements and accounts, and offers set out in pounds. Nobody needs to travel anywhere.
The ten cities in this pilot
Each page uses the latest ONS UK Business Counts for that council area, the March 2026 count of businesses registered for VAT or PAYE, taken from Nomis. From that we work out which sectors are bigger or smaller than across the UK, and what that means for cash flow. Each page also names the local growth hub or equivalent and the British Business Bank regional fund, with links.
- Nottingham. The fastest-growing base in the pilot, strong in retail, care and logistics, and the city where we see most invoice finance demand.
- Leeds. 29,830 businesses, led by professional services, with law, accounting and recruitment well above the UK share.
- Manchester. The highest company share of the ten, with retail and wholesale far above the national rate and little construction.
- Birmingham. The largest base here at 38,605, mostly micro firms, with retail and care both around one and a half to two times the UK share.
- Sheffield. The one city where manufacturing stands out, with metal fabrication at more than twice the UK share.
- Bristol. Tech and screen production well above the UK share: a project economy paid by milestone.
- Newcastle. Hospitality is one business in nine, the highest share in the pilot.
- Glasgow. Retail and hospitality both far above the UK share, and Scottish public support structured around Business Gateway.
- Cardiff. A capital with screen, legal and public-sector work, plus Business Wales and the Development Bank of Wales.
- York. The smallest base and the lowest company share, with hotels at twice the UK rate.
Your city not listed? It makes no difference to what we can arrange. Start an enquiry from anywhere in the UK.
Get my optionsWhich product fits which kind of business
The pattern repeats from city to city, so it is worth setting out once.
- You invoice other businesses. Invoice finance lends against each invoice as soon as it is raised. Factoring and discounting are its two forms, and this is what they cost.
- You are paid by card at the till. Revenue-based finance is repaid as a share of takings, so the payment falls in a quiet month.
- You need a buffer you dip in and out of. A revolving credit line, where you pay only for what is drawn.
- You have one defined need. An unsecured business loan over a fixed term, or for a tax bill, tax bill finance after HMRC Time to Pay.
- You need a machine or a vehicle. That is asset finance, which our sister business CW Asset Finance handles.
Not sure which? The cash flow finance guide lays them side by side, and our sector pages look at the same question by trade rather than by place.
What a city page will never claim
We do not have offices in any of these cities, and no page should read as though we do. None of the money is ours: a lender pays us once a deal completes, and you pay us nothing. Borrowers on the cash flow side must be limited companies or LLPs; sole traders and ordinary partnerships fall outside it. And the public funds and growth hubs we link to are independent of us: we do not arrange them, and they are often the right first call.
If you think a figure on one of these pages is out of date, the source is linked beside it, and the ONS updates the count once a year, in the autumn.
Common questions
Does it matter which city my business is in?
Not to whether you can borrow. Lenders on our panel assess your trading and your accounts, not your postcode. Location matters for which free public support you can use, which is why each city page lists it.
Why are only ten cities covered?
This is a pilot. Each page is written from that city’s own figures rather than a template, which takes time, so we started with ten large cities across England, Scotland and Wales. We work with businesses everywhere else too.
Where do the business figures come from?
ONS UK Business Counts, published on Nomis: the number of businesses registered for VAT or PAYE in each council area in March 2026, broken down by industry.
Can you help a business in Northern Ireland?
Our panel is UK-wide, so ask. Northern Ireland has no city page in this pilot, and the British Business Bank runs a separate Investment Fund for Northern Ireland.
Wherever you are, start in a minute
One enquiry, no credit check, and your options set out in pounds.
Get my optionsWhere to next
Business funding Back to the hubBusiness loans and working capital from £1,000 to £500,000.NottinghamInvoice finance and discounting for a fast-growing city base.LeedsCredit lines for practices, invoice finance for agencies.ManchesterInvoice finance for agencies, stock funding for wholesale and retail.