UK Specialty Finance Terms Index 2026
Edition 1, June 2026, the only edition so far. Every figure is computed from our own lender, product and decline data.
The UK Specialty Finance Terms Index records soft search and decision speed across the 13 lenders FundBiz reviewed in June 2026, a mix of specialist lenders, banks and the government-backed Start Up Loans Company, alongside our map of why businesses get declined: 16 general reasons plus a page for each of those 13 lenders. The lender set is small, so we report counts rather than percentages.
9 of the 13 lenders we reviewed in June 2026 were recorded as quoting after a soft search, and 7 gave a decision time in hours or same day.
Headline findings
decline pages are mapped, each with a route forward: 16 general reasons a UK business can be declined for finance, plus one page for each of the 13 lenders we reviewed.
lenders we reviewed were recorded as quoting after a soft search, which other lenders can't see on the credit file.
gave a decision time measured in hours or same day, according to the lenders.
asset finance equipment categories are covered, from vans and HGVs to dental chairs, scaffolding and sound equipment.
Methodology
Every lender in the FundBiz Business Finance Lender Index is recorded against a common schema (product type, ticket range, typical rate, decision time and soft-search availability), alongside the FundBiz finance-type and decline-reason taxonomies. Because the set of lenders is small, we report counts over that set rather than percentages, and we do not compute an average rate (specialist lenders price on factor rates, monthly rates and APR, which are not comparable). The method is held constant between editions, and the edition date reflects the most recent re-audit.
Writing about the index? The journalist pack shows what each figure counts, the 13 lenders behind them, what has changed on our records since June and how to cite it. An FCA figure in the June file was withdrawn on 24 July 2026, and the pack explains why.
Download the data
The full indicator table is available as a CSV under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence:
UK Specialty Finance Terms Index, June 2026 (CSV)
Cite this index
To reference these figures, please credit FundBiz and link to this page:
Source: FundBiz, UK Specialty Finance Terms Index (Edition 1, June 2026), https://fundbiz.co.uk/research/uk-specialty-finance-terms-index/ (accessed June 2026).
Compiled by Adam Parker. Published by FundBiz. See also the Lender Index and our UK business finance statistics.