Knowledge Hub

There may be occasions when it appears clear that your specific circumstances could be perfectly matched by a particular lender. We believe, however, that alternatives should be provided whenever possible. In the majority of cases we will refer you to up to three funders unless you specifically request contact with only one. Even then we would prefer you to have a choice; funders may look to improve their terms if they know they are in competition.

For many companies in need of funding, the idea of offering security for a business loan seems untenable, whether due to their current lack of collateral or their industry’s reliance on intangible assets. An unsecured business loan circumvents this problem, allowing firms to access crucial funding and stabilise their cash flow.

Whether your company wants to maintain or expand its operations, secure its finances while chasing late payments, launch a short- or long-term project or simply create a safety net, the possibilities of an unsecured business loan are endless.

The loan providers on our panel will usually examine a company’s turnover in order to assess the amount which they are willing to lend, with a common approximate value being the equivalent to 10% – 15% of annual turnover. Some of the lenders on our panel will look at the profit shown in the last financial accounts and base their proposed lend upon that.

How quickly these funds can become available will depend mainly on the speed with which we receive your documentation. Nevertheless, we will strive to provide funder quotes within 48 hours from the receipt of documentation, and in many cases companies can start receiving money in their account within as little as a week of our first conversation.

Loan providers will need to see your bank statements for the last six months, along with the firm’s last filed profit and loss, balance sheet and details of your VAT returns for the past four quarters. If the businesses accounts are over 12 months old our funders may also request management accounts. In the event that your business has yet to gain VAT registration, then a monthly breakdown of company revenue should suffice, but these are details which we can clarify as our consultants start introducing you to prospective loan providers.

A personal guarantee is an agreement with the loan provider whereby the director of a business or a key shareholder(s) agree to take personal responsibility if the company is unable to keep up with the repayments, paying the debts owed themselves in this situation. Funders will let us know if they are happy to take just one personal guarantee or need multiple shareholders to provide this, depending on the individual case.

Rest assured that the funders on our panel will analyse a range of different aspects of your business – such as turnover, profit, trading history and your last filed accounts – before making a decision on your eligibility. The loan providers we work with will try to understand each prospective client’s individual needs and requirements.

Most loan providers will tend to favour companies that have been trading for at least 18 months to two years. We may be able to find some that will help without such a long trading history, however it’s important to funders that your business can show some degree of stability, both in terms of limiting the risks involved on their side and ensuring a smooth business relationship once the loan term commences.

This term refers to the cost of funding, an amount usually calculated by lenders adding together the fees involved with the desired loan and the nominal interest rate. The Annual Premium Rates (APRs) involved with Unsecured Business Loans vary from funder to funder.

All loan providers are legally required to show their APR as a basic means by which customers can compare their quote to those of other funders, but again, our team of consultants is here to help should you have any queries about what the different rates entail.

From your initial contact with us, you are allocated your own dedicated consultant. Their role is not intrusive but to ensure that any problems you experience are dealt with properly (sometimes with our involvement) or to act as a sounding board should you have any ongoing questions about the operation of your facility. From time to time we might also be able to assist with other funding or business requirements you might have.

Service levels and rates will of course vary across the marketplace, and will often depend on the type of facility that the customer prefers. Some of our customers, for example, will be entirely price driven and require less service assistance from the funder. Others will require the funder to be far more ‘hands on’ and this might be the principle driver for them.

You will enter into a formal agreement with a lender detailing what happens if you want to leave so depending on the contract length, a leaving or cancellation fee may apply.

If this is a concern for you, the Touch team will be able to recommend funders that offer monthly rolling contracts reducing any termination penalty if you want to exit the agreement.

A significant proportion of our funders are members of UK Finance and there is a seamless inter-factor transfer process that these funders adhere to. That said, there are typically transfer fees that apply when businesses move from one funder to another. We can seek to identify these early to ensure you can make informed decisions rather than finding out about any transfer penalties at the 11th hour.

A proportion of funders on our panel may charge the same (and it’s even possible some may charge more) whether or not you come to them via a third party, whilst others do have pricing models that take into account any third party commissions and will add that on.

All the funders on our panel however know that any businesses we introduce to them will normally receive quotes from more than one funder. This encourages them to offer market competitive rates for equally competitive service levels.

Yes, our consultants can help you to secure market competitive rates. We recommend that any quotes you receive are discussed with us especially if you are considering multiple quotes and seeking assistance in comparing them.

Not as a rule. As with any finance facility, however, there can be additional costs that inflate the headline rates, which sometimes makes ‘like for like’ comparisons more challenging. Funders on our panel should be transparent about their fee structure, although we would encourage you to ask for a full breakdown of any additional charges. Further, a number of the funders we work with also have fixed cost facilities that can help for budgeting purposes and reduce disbursement fees.

We work on a commission basis with funders which is only paid once a facility has been provided. Our consultants are not aware of the commission rates and therefore cannot be influenced when making introductions to funders. Funders should disclose to you that Touch is being paid a commission and full details should be available on request. However we can also provide this information to you upon request.

For business loans, we are normally paid a fixed fee of 5% of the loan value.

Touch is an affiliate member of the UK Finance and is fully compliant with their ‘code of conduct’ whose contact details can be found on their website www.ukfinance.org.uk. However, should you have any problems with our service our Director Annabel Ah-Lim will be very pleased to speak to you directly at annabel@touchfinancial.co.uk