Two of the most common questions before applying are "do I have to be VAT-registered?" and "have I been trading long enough?" The short answers are no, you do not need to be VAT-registered, and there is a clear minimum trading time you can check yourself. This article sets out the concrete eligibility thresholds so you can tell, before you start, whether your business can apply.
The four things you need to apply
Eligibility comes down to four straightforward requirements. If your business meets all four, you can apply; if it falls short on one, the others will not make up for it. They are deliberately plain so you can check them against your own situation in a minute.
- A UK limited company or LLP. The borrower has to be a body corporate registered at Companies House — a limited company or a limited liability partnership. We lend to the company itself, not to you as an individual.
- At least 6 months trading. Your business needs a minimum of six months of trading history, so there is enough activity for us to assess. This is measured from when the company actually started trading, not necessarily from the incorporation date.
- A UK business bank account. The company must hold its own UK business bank account, in the company's name. This is how we look at the business's cash flow and how any loan would be funded and repaid — it cannot be a personal account.
- A genuine business purpose. The borrowing must be for the business — stock, a supplier bill, equipment, a short cash-flow gap — and not for personal spending. You confirm the purpose as part of applying.
Notice what is not on the list: VAT registration, a minimum turnover figure, or a perfect credit file. Those are covered below.
VAT registration is not required
You do not need to be VAT-registered to apply. Many perfectly healthy small companies trade below the VAT threshold and are not registered, and that is completely fine — being registered (or not) is neither a requirement nor a tick in your favour. What matters is the four points above, not your VAT status.
If your company is VAT-registered, that is fine. If it is not, that is equally fine. We assess the business on its trading history, its bank-account activity and its company credit file — not on whether it has crossed the VAT threshold. You will never be turned away simply for not being VAT-registered, and you gain no advantage by being so.
How the six-month trading rule works
The trading-time threshold is a minimum of six months. The key point is that this runs from when the company genuinely started trading — taking on customers, making sales, moving money through its business account — rather than from the day it was incorporated. A company can be registered at Companies House for a while before it actually begins to trade, and it is the trading that we count.
The reason for the threshold is simple: a short run of real trading gives us enough to look at to make a fair, evidence-based decision about what the business can afford. A company that started trading only a few weeks ago has very little history to assess, which is why we ask for at least six months. If you are not quite there yet, the position can change as your trading history builds.
What else we look at (and what we don't)
Meeting the four requirements means you can apply; it does not, on its own, guarantee an offer. Once you apply, we assess the company's affordability from its bank activity and a credit check on the business, so that any amount we offer is one the business can comfortably manage. We explain what goes into that in what we look at when we decide, and how long it takes in how quickly will I get a decision.
Just as importantly, here is what we do not require: there is no minimum turnover figure to clear, no need to be VAT-registered, and no personal guarantee from any director — the company is the borrower, and the loan is not a personal debt on your own credit file. We are an exempt business lender under Article 60B of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001: we lend to companies for business purposes, which sits outside FCA consumer-credit regulation, so this is not consumer credit and the Financial Ombudsman Service and FSCS do not apply.
Who this is and isn't for
If you trade as a sole trader, you cannot apply as structured, because a sole trader is not a separate legal entity from the individual — the borrowing would in effect be to you personally, which is a different kind of lending we do not provide. The eligibility difference between limited companies, LLPs and sole traders, and why the legal structure matters, is explained in full in limited company, LLP or sole trader: lending eligibility compared. That article is the educational background; this one is the practical "can my business apply?" checklist.
If you would like more on the kind of lender we are and the products available, see what kind of lender is Credicorp.
Ready to check your own business
Run your business through the four requirements at the top: UK limited company or LLP, at least six months trading, a UK business bank account, and a genuine business purpose — with VAT registration not needed. If you meet all four, you are eligible to apply, and the decision then turns on the company's affordability. If you want to get everything together first, what documents you need to apply walks through the up-front checklist.
See also: Can a newly formed company apply?, Can a charity or charitable company apply?, Can a CIC or community interest company apply?.