Import and export companies live in the gap between two currencies and two payment clocks. You commit cash to an overseas supplier — often a deposit up front and the balance before goods even ship — then carry freight, marine insurance, customs duty and import VAT at the border, all weeks or months before a UK customer settles their invoice. On the export side the squeeze runs the other way: you fund production and shipping here, then wait on an overseas buyer who pays on their own terms. That long cash cycle is where working capital matters most, and it is what Credicorp business lending is built to bridge. We lend to UK import and export limited companies and LLPs for these business purposes.
Who we lend to
We lend to incorporated cross-border traders only — limited companies and LLPs — not to individuals or sole traders importing on the side. The borrowing sits with the company, the facility is assessed on the business itself, and we do not ask directors for personal guarantees. If you want the reasoning behind that structure, why we lend to companies, not sole traders explains it.
What cross-border traders typically fund
- Supplier deposits and pre-shipment balance payments to overseas factories
- Freight, marine insurance, customs duty and import VAT due at the UK border
- The wait between paying for landed stock and selling it on to UK buyers
- Production and shipping costs on an export order before an overseas customer pays
- Holding extra stock to cover longer sea-freight lead times or a seasonal peak
Cost the landed price, not the invoice
The supplier's quote is only part of the real cost. Build a full landed figure that adds shipping, insurance, duty, import VAT and any port or handling charges, and remember currency can move between order and payment. Borrowing against the true total — rather than the headline invoice — avoids a shortfall when the goods clear customs. Matching repayments to when the stock is likely to sell keeps the facility working with your trade cycle, not against it.
The transactional side
This page is the sector view — who we lend to and how a facility fits a cross-border trading model. For the step-by-step on a single shipment, including landed-cost build and timing risk, see funding import orders, duties, and shipping. If you also hold and break bulk for trade customers, funding for wholesale and distribution companies covers the inventory side, and importers selling online will find funding for ecommerce businesses relevant too.
Choosing a product
Credicorp Flex suits traders running repeat import or export runs, letting you draw against the facility as each shipment cycles through and your costs and income move unevenly. Credicorp Slice provides a single amount for one defined outlay, such as a large one-off container or a major export order. The rate and term that apply are the ones set out in your offer, not quoted in advance.
Before you apply
This is business lending to companies, outside the FCA consumer-credit regime, so the Financial Ombudsman Service and FSCS protections do not apply. It is worth mapping any facility to your shipping lead times, supplier terms and customer payment dates first — our team is happy to talk it through and help match the funding to your trade cycle.
See also: Can an accountancy practice borrow from Credicorp?, Funding equipment and plant costs, Financing materials and stock purchases.