Funding the gap
for Manchester firms
Manchester limited companies use us mainly for invoice finance, stock funding and revolving credit, anything from £1,000 to £500,000. We are a national broker working by phone and online; there is no Manchester office, and you will not need one.
No credit check to enquire.
What Manchester’s 24,550 businesses do
Up by roughly 835 in a year. Professional services are 18.1% of the city, and retail at 11.9% is about one and a half times the national share.
Source: ONS UK Business Counts, enterprises on Nomis, Manchester, March 2026. Sector groups are ONS broad industry groups, totalled from Nomis division counts rounded to the nearest 5. The query behind the total.
- The highest company share in the pilot. 20,945 businesses, 85%, are companies; only 370 are partnerships.
- 1,395 wholesalers. Wholesale is around one and a half times as common as across the UK, and wholesalers buy stock and sell it on credit, the hardest combination for cash.
- Little construction. Building trades are 7.7% of the base, about half the UK share, the lowest of the ten cities.
Manchester’s cash runs short in two places
- Agencies and practices owed by their clients
The city has 1,510 legal and accounting firms and 420 advertising and market research businesses, the first at more than twice the UK share and the second nearly so. They bill other businesses and wait. Invoice finance turns that ledger into cash, and here is what it really costs.
- Wholesalers caught on both sides
A wholesaler pays its suppliers up front or on short terms and gives its own trade customers 30 days or more. Both ends lean on the bank balance. A revolving credit line pays the supplier, and the trade customer’s payment clears it; invoice finance on the sales side can run alongside.
- Shops buying months ahead of the till
With 2,915 retailers, stock bought long before it sells is the commonest squeeze. Our retail and ecommerce page covers marketplace payout delays and why returns change what you can afford.
- Restaurants and bars paid instantly, unevenly
2,035 hospitality businesses take their money at the point of sale but carry rent and payroll through slow weeks. Repaying from card takings, through revenue-based finance, lowers the payment when trade drops.
Wholesaling or retailing in Manchester? Tell us your stock cycle and we will find the facility that matches it.
Get my optionsFree support in Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester has one of the most developed public business support services in England, and it is worth using before any lender.
- Greater Manchester Business Growth Hub. Greater Manchester’s publicly funded business support organisation. It says more than 14,000 businesses use it in an average year, at no charge.
- Greater Manchester Combined Authority. The mayoral authority for the ten Greater Manchester boroughs, which funds the growth hub and much of the region’s skills and investment work.
- Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II. Run by fund managers on behalf of the British Business Bank, it offers smaller northern firms loans and equity. You approach those managers; we do not place it.
How we handle a Manchester enquiry
You tell us what the money is for, roughly how much and how quickly. We match that to the lenders on our panel whose appetite fits a Manchester agency, wholesaler or retailer, and come back with the options and their cost in pounds. All of it happens by phone and online; your location within the UK does not change how a lender assesses you.
If your customers are businesses, look at invoice finance first. If your money arrives through a card machine, look at revenue-based finance. If you need stock or a buffer you can dip into, the credit line is the one. And when it is a single need such as a corporation tax bill, spread the bill rather than taking a long loan.
The cash flow panel covers limited companies and LLPs only. For vans, fit-outs and kit, our sister company CW Asset Finance arranges asset finance.
Common questions
Can a Manchester wholesaler fund stock and invoices together?
Yes, and it is a common arrangement: a revolving facility for purchases plus invoice finance on what you sell to trade customers. The two lenders need to agree who holds security over what, which is the detail we sort out before anything is signed.
Is invoice finance worth it for a small Manchester agency?
It depends on the gap. An agency invoicing £20,000 a month on 60-day terms has about £40,000 tied up at any time; releasing most of that can matter more than the fees. Below a certain size the minimum charges make it poor value, and we will tell you if yours is there.
Will I need to visit an office in Manchester?
No. We have no Manchester premises and the lenders do not need you to attend anywhere. It is phone, email and secure upload from start to finish, and you can share your statements through Open Banking if you prefer that to PDFs.
What does the Business Growth Hub do that a broker does not?
It is free, impartial and publicly funded, and it covers far more than finance: leadership, exporting, recruitment and grants among them. We only arrange borrowing. The two work well together.
Does a Manchester marketplace seller count as retail to a lender?
For most lenders, yes, and they will read your platform payout reports in place of till data. If a platform holds part of your payouts for a period, say so up front, because it changes how much cash you actually have to repay from.
Put a Manchester cash gap in front of the panel
One short enquiry and no credit check. We come back with real options, costed.
Get my options