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South East · Q3 2026 data

Business funding in Ashford

Ashford has 7,301 trading companies. 1,085 of them (14.9%) have secured borrowing registered at Companies House, above the South East at 13.7% and the UK at 14.0%.

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7,301trading companies
14.9%have secured borrowing
264new companies in Q3 2026
3.6%late filing accounts

How Ashford's sectors borrow

The biggest sectors in Ashford, and the share of companies in each with a lender's charge registered against them. Real estate & lettings borrows most against its assets here, at 50%.

Professional services1,011 companies
6%
Construction & trades917 companies
10%
Real estate & lettings819 companies
50%
Tech, media & telecoms603 companies
3%
Business support services479 companies
10%
Retail419 companies
12%
Healthcare & dental355 companies
4%
Manufacturing294 companies
21%

Older businesses borrow more

Lenders like a track record. In Ashford, the share of companies with secured borrowing climbs with age, which is why a young business often starts with asset finance or a smaller unsecured loan.

Under 2 years1,743 companies
5%
2 to 5 years1,488 companies
12%
5 to 10 years1,724 companies
16%
10 to 20 years1,539 companies
15%
Over 20 years807 companies
38%

Who's lending in the South East

The 515 new lender charges we tracked against the South East companies in Q3 2026, by type of lender. Property, bridging & buy-to-let made up the largest share, as most mortgages on company-owned property are registered as charges.

Property, bridging & buy-to-let
55%
Banks
15%
Specialist & alternative lenders
11%
Asset finance
1%
Invoice finance
0%

Funding that fits Ashford businesses

Plain-English guides to the kinds of funding that suit Ashford's biggest sectors.

Elsewhere in the South East

Source: every live company on the Companies House register at 2026-10-01, analysed by DueLead for its Q3 2026 Pulse report on Ashford. "Secured borrowing" means at least one outstanding charge, a lender's security registered at Companies House, so unsecured loans and overdrafts don't show. Trading companies means active limited companies, LLPs and PLCs, excluding dormant companies, financial services firms and public bodies. Sole traders aren't on the register, so they aren't counted.