Events and production is a sector that spends heavily before it gets paid. An agency staging a conference, a live-event producer, an AV and rigging firm, an exhibition contractor or a touring-support company commits to crew, equipment hire and supplier deposits in the run-up to a show — sometimes months ahead — while the client invoice settles weeks after the get-out. Credicorp lends to UK events and production businesses constituted as limited companies or LLPs, where the borrowing is for genuine business purposes.
The deposit-to-invoice gap
This is different from the steady-demand pattern of a leisure venue. A production company's costs cluster sharply around the build week: freelance crew day-rates, kit sub-hire, transport, power, structures and stand-build all fall due before or during the event. A booking deposit rarely covers them in full, and the balance often arrives 30, 60 or even 90 days after the event closes. The bigger and more prestigious the booking, the wider that gap tends to be — and winning two large jobs that overlap can stretch working capital further than either would alone.
Where funding tends to help
- Paying freelance and casual crew across the build, show and de-rig before the client settles
- Funding sub-hire of staging, lighting, sound, LED and rigging you do not own outright
- Covering supplier and venue deposits committed long before the event date
- Bridging the balance of a large invoice that pays well after the get-out
- Buying owned kit — flightcases, control surfaces, a vehicle — where it is cheaper than perpetual hire
Matching the product to the booking
Two products tend to suit this sector in different ways. For a single defined cost — the upfront delivery of one large contract, or a specific equipment purchase — Credicorp Slice provides one amount repaid over set instalments, and where it is funding a supplier invoice it can pay that supplier directly. For a calendar of back-to-back jobs, where you fund each build and recover it as the client settles, Credicorp Flex works as a revolving facility: you draw for a show, repay as the invoice clears, and the limit frees up for the next one. Many production firms use Slice for owned kit and Flex for the per-event crew-and-hire cycle.
The pure timing problems behind this are covered in two related guides: funding a large new contract looks at the single big booking where outlay lands well before payment, and funding payroll between customer payments covers the crew-wage mismatch that defines a labour-heavy show.
Owned kit and seasonal peaks
Some production spend is capital rather than cash-flow — buying a console, an LED wall or a van instead of hiring it every job. Where that purchase is a defined cost, our notes on equipment and plant costs for incorporated firms set out how that tends to be funded. Events work is also strongly seasonal, clustering around conference season, summer festivals and the year-end party run, with quieter months in between; if your year has that shape, see managing cash flow in a seasonal business.
Who qualifies
We lend to incorporated businesses only. Sole traders and individuals are not eligible. The borrowing is the company's, and we take no personal guarantees from directors, so your home and personal savings do not stand behind the facility. For the reasoning, see why we lend to companies, not sole traders.
What we are, and what we are not
Credicorp provides funding you can use for events and production business costs; we are the lender, not an equipment-hire house or a production-finance broker. How you use an approved facility within your business is your decision, and the rate and term are those set out in your offer — agreed before you commit, never a figure we publish in advance.
A note on protections
Because this is business lending that sits outside the FCA consumer-credit regime, neither the Financial Ombudsman Service nor FSCS applies. We still hold ourselves to clear, fair dealing, and our team can help you map a facility onto a production calendar before you apply.
See also: Can an accountancy practice borrow from Credicorp?, Financing materials and stock purchases, Funding a shop fit-out or refurbishment.