Business funding in Bristol
Bristol has 42,465 trading companies. 6,600 of them (15.5%) have secured borrowing registered at Companies House, in line with the South West at 15.4% and the UK at 14.0%.
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Check what you can getHow Bristol's sectors borrow
The biggest sectors in Bristol, 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%.
Older businesses borrow more
Lenders like a track record. In Bristol, 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.
Who's lending in the South West
The 172 new lender charges we tracked against the South West 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.
Funding that fits Bristol businesses
Plain-English guides to the kinds of funding that suit Bristol's biggest sectors.
Elsewhere in the South West
Source: every live company on the Companies House register at 2026-10-01, analysed by DueLead for its Q3 2026 Pulse report on Bristol. "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.