Green-install work is one of the fastest-growing trades in the UK, and it has a cash-flow shape all of its own. Whether you fit domestic solar PV and battery storage, install air-source or ground-source heat pumps, or roll out EV chargers for homes and commercial sites, you almost always pay for the kit, the scaffolding and the labour well before the money comes back. Credicorp lends to incorporated installers to bridge that gap.
Why the green-install gap is wide
The outlay on a renewables job lands early and all at once. Panels, inverters, batteries, heat-pump units and charge points are bought from a wholesaler on short terms, often before you have a penny from the customer, and on top of the hardware you carry scaffolding hire, plant and a skilled crew on site. The income arrives late: a homeowner may pay a deposit and settle the balance only on sign-off, a commercial client works to 30 or 60-day terms, and any grant or scheme contribution is reconciled after the work is certified. That front-loaded cost against back-loaded payment is the squeeze almost every installer feels as they grow.
Grant and scheme timing
A lot of renewables work is supported by grants or government schemes, and the value is real, but the timing rarely matches your supplier's. You commission the system, submit the paperwork, wait for certification and then wait again for the contribution to be reconciled, all while you have already paid for the equipment and the crew. Short-term funding lets you carry the cost of the job through to the point the scheme money and the customer balance both land, rather than turning down the next booking because your cash is tied up in the last one.
Stock, scaffolding and the busy-season ramp
Demand for installs runs in waves, and the busy months reward firms that can buy ahead. Securing a pallet of panels or a batch of heat-pump units at a good price, or booking scaffolding and crews before the diary fills, all costs money up front. Buying materials and stock ahead of payment is a common reason trade companies seek funding, and we cover the principle in our note on financing materials and stock purchases. The same applies to the tools and vans the work depends on: our guide to equipment and plant costs for incorporated firms walks through matching the borrowing to the asset.
Paying the crew between jobs
A qualified roofer, electrician or MCS-certified fitter expects to be paid on schedule whether or not the last client has settled. Because labour and subcontractor costs fall due on a fixed cycle while job income arrives late, even a profitable installer can be short purely on timing. We look at that specific mismatch in funding payroll between customer payments.
Which product fits
- Credicorp Flex suits the uneven install cycle: draw to cover a kit order or a scaffolding-and-labour push, repay as the customer balance and any scheme contribution land, then draw again for the next job
- Credicorp Slice provides a single, sized amount for a defined cost, such as a bulk panel order or one large fleet of charge points
- The rate and term that apply are always the ones shown in your offer, never 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, not a crutch
Funding the gap between an early outlay and a confirmed, certified payment is sensible cash-flow management, especially when a grant or a customer balance is what you are waiting on. Leaning on a facility to cover speculative stock with no booking behind it carries more risk, because the cost runs while the kit sits in the unit.
Eligibility and protections
We lend to UK limited companies and LLPs only. We cannot lend to a sole trader or an individual, even one running a one-van install business, 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?, How do we fund a large new contract?, Funding a shop fit-out or refurbishment.