Commercial cleaning is one of the most labour-heavy sectors there is. Whether you run office contracts, retail and facilities cleaning, an industrial or hygiene operation, or specialist work such as window and washroom services, most of your cost is people. Cleaners, supervisors and mobile teams are paid weekly or fortnightly, while the clients they serve pay on 30, 60 or even 90-day terms. That mismatch sits at the centre of how the sector is funded.
The payroll-before-payment squeeze
Payroll has no give in it. Your teams turn up and clean every night and weekend, and they expect to be paid on the agreed date regardless of whether a facilities manager has approved last month's invoice. Because labour is such a large share of a cleaning company's outgoings, even a profitable, well-run firm can be short on payday purely because of timing. This is the single most common reason cleaning companies look for short-term funding, and it is covered in more detail in our note on funding payroll between customer payments.
Winning a bigger contract
The other pinch point is growth. Land a large new site or a multi-building facilities contract and your costs jump straight away: you recruit and train extra cleaners, buy in machines and chemicals, and put supervisors on the ground, all weeks before the first invoice is paid. Scaling up for a contract win is exactly where cash runs thin, and we look at the mobilisation phase in how we fund a large new contract.
Equipment and consumables
Cleaning is also equipment-driven. Scrubber-dryers, vacuum systems, pressure washers, vans for mobile teams and a steady flow of chemicals and consumables all cost money before a new contract starts paying for itself. A facility can cover that outlay without draining the cash you need for wages. Our guide to equipment and plant costs for incorporated firms walks through the principle of matching the borrowing to the asset.
Which product fits
- Credicorp Flex works well for the uneven cleaning cycle: draw to cover a wage run or a contract mobilisation, then repay as client payments land, and draw again next cycle
- Credicorp Slice provides a single, sized amount for a defined cost, such as a batch of machines or one large recruitment push
- The rate and term that apply are always the ones shown in your offer, not a figure quoted here
If you are weighing the two, choosing between Flex and Slice sets out how each one behaves.
Use it as a bridge
Funding the gap between a fixed wage run and slower client payments is sensible cash-flow management. Leaning on a facility every cycle to pay wages you are not actually earning is a signal to tighten pricing or chase collections, and our team is happy to talk that through.
The basics
We lend to UK limited companies and LLPs only. We cannot lend to a sole trader or an individual, even one running a cleaning round, and we take no personal guarantees from directors. This is business lending outside the FCA consumer-credit regime, so the Financial Ombudsman Service and FSCS protections do not apply. You can reach us through the General Support Enquiry form before you commit.
See also: Can an accountancy practice borrow from Credicorp?, Financing materials and stock purchases, Funding a shop fit-out or refurbishment.