Yes. Specialty coffee roasters are eligible to apply as UK limited companies or LLPs. The business model — buying green beans in bulk, often from international suppliers with long payment terms, then selling roasted coffee with relatively short shelf life — creates a cashflow profile well suited to short-term business finance.
Typical uses of finance for roasters
- Bulk green-bean purchases, especially when forward-buying to lock in origin pricing
- Roasting drum and afterburner equipment upgrades
- Packaging machinery, grinders and café equipment supplied to wholesale accounts
- Working capital between import payment and wholesale invoice settlement
- Opening or fitting out a retail café or tasting room
Which product suits a roastery?
If you are buying a new drum roaster or fitting out a café, a Credicorp Business Loan gives a lump sum repaid over a defined short term. If your purchasing is more opportunistic — buying an exceptional lot when it becomes available — Credicorp Flex lets you draw down as needed and repay as wholesale invoices clear, without a fixed schedule. For a single large green-bean invoice, Credicorp Slice splits the cost into three or four weekly payments at a flat 6% fee.
Things that shape your application
- Wholesale account concentration: if a handful of café or hotel clients represent most revenue, lenders will want to see contract continuity
- Import payment terms vary widely by origin and trader — map your cash cycle before choosing a product
- Subscription D2C revenue is recurring and predictable, which strengthens the picture
We lend only to UK limited companies and LLPs, and the loan is to the company with no director personal guarantee. As business finance outside the consumer-credit regime, it is not covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service or FSCS.
See also: Business finance for artisan and craft bakeries, Finance for contract catering businesses.