Short answer: your industry is read for context, not used as a list of "yes" and "no" sectors. The assessment is built around one question — can this company comfortably repay this amount on this schedule — and the sector you trade in helps it read the rest of your picture sensibly. It is one signal among many, never an automatic decline on its own.
What your SIC code actually is
Your SIC code (Standard Industrial Classification) is the code on your Companies House record that describes what your business does — for example construction, retail, hospitality, professional services or manufacturing. You chose it when you incorporated, and you can hold more than one. We can see it because it is part of the public company record, the same place we read your filings and registered details.
It is worth making sure the code on file genuinely describes what you do day to day. A SIC code that does not match your actual trading — left over from a pivot, or picked quickly at incorporation — gives a slightly misleading first impression and is easy to put right at Companies House.
How the sector is used in the decision
Industry mostly helps the assessment interpret your numbers in context rather than score you up or down by itself. A few examples of what it informs:
- Cash-flow rhythm. Some sectors are paid up front, others wait 30 to 90 days on invoices. Knowing which you are in helps us read your bank account fairly.
- Seasonality. A quiet month for a seasonal trade is normal, not a warning sign — context stops a healthy business being misread.
- Typical patterns. What "steady trading" looks like differs between, say, a wholesaler and a consultancy. The sector frames what normal looks like for you.
None of this overrides the core picture. Strong, regular income through a well-run business bank account speaks far louder than the sector label attached to it. You can see the full list of what we read in what information goes into a lending decision.
Are some industries excluded?
We do not run a simple "computer says no" by SIC code. A small number of activities sit outside what we can lend to for legal or regulatory reasons, or because they fall outside business lending altogether — but the everyday answer for the vast majority of trading companies is that your sector shapes the read, it does not gate it. Two businesses in the same industry can get very different outcomes because their trading, bank behaviour and credit file differ. Equally, the same sector will not save an application that cannot show it can afford the repayments.
If you are worried your sector counts against you
The most useful thing you can do is let the assessment see a complete, current picture so your industry is read in proportion. Connect your main business bank account, keep your Companies House record accurate, and choose an amount and term that sit comfortably against how you actually trade. These are the same honest steps in what can strengthen your application, and they matter more than the code itself. The wider logic is in how our AI decision engine works, and our commitment to consistent outcomes is covered in is the decision fair and unbiased.
Important to know
Credicorp lends only to UK limited companies and LLPs for business purposes, as a lender rather than a broker, and we assess the company rather than the director personally — we take no personal guarantees. As an exempt business lender we sit outside the FCA consumer-credit regime, so the Financial Ombudsman Service and FSCS do not apply.
See also: Can I ask a person to review an automated decision?, Can I find out why I was declined?, Can I reapply after a decline?.