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North West · Q3 2026 data

Business funding in Chester

Chester has 7,875 trading companies. 1,219 of them (15.5%) have secured borrowing registered at Companies House, above the North West at 14.6% and the UK at 14.0%.

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7,875trading companies
15.5%have secured borrowing
293new companies in Q3 2026
4.3%late filing accounts

How Chester's sectors borrow

The biggest sectors in Chester, 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 44%.

Professional services1,260 companies
6%
Real estate & lettings1,096 companies
44%
Tech, media & telecoms634 companies
6%
Construction & trades550 companies
8%
Retail526 companies
8%
Business support services518 companies
14%
Personal services379 companies
7%
Restaurants, pubs & cafes376 companies
7%

Older businesses borrow more

Lenders like a track record. In Chester, 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 years1,947 companies
5%
2 to 5 years1,532 companies
11%
5 to 10 years1,800 companies
17%
10 to 20 years1,687 companies
18%
Over 20 years909 companies
37%

Who's lending in the North West

The 755 new lender charges we tracked against the North 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.

Property, bridging & buy-to-let
56%
Specialist & alternative lenders
11%
Banks
9%
Invoice finance
1%
Asset finance
0%

Funding that fits Chester businesses

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

Elsewhere in the North West

Source: every live company on the Companies House register at 2026-10-01, analysed by DueLead for its Q3 2026 Pulse report on Chester. "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.