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East Midlands · Q3 2026 data

Business funding in Derby

Derby has 17,717 trading companies. 2,836 of them (16.0%) have secured borrowing registered at Companies House, in line with the East Midlands at 15.9% and the UK at 14.0%.

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17,717trading companies
16.0%have secured borrowing
804new companies in Q3 2026
3.6%late filing accounts

How Derby's sectors borrow

The biggest sectors in Derby, 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 49%.

Real estate & lettings2,837 companies
49%
Professional services2,135 companies
7%
Construction & trades1,522 companies
9%
Retail1,357 companies
6%
Tech, media & telecoms1,268 companies
7%
Restaurants, pubs & cafes928 companies
4%
Haulage & logistics806 companies
5%
Business support services804 companies
7%

Older businesses borrow more

Lenders like a track record. In Derby, 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 years5,593 companies
6%
2 to 5 years3,602 companies
15%
5 to 10 years3,707 companies
20%
10 to 20 years3,187 companies
18%
Over 20 years1,628 companies
39%

Who's lending in the East Midlands

The 288 new lender charges we tracked against the East Midlands 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
42%
Banks
33%
Specialist & alternative lenders
8%
Asset finance
1%
Invoice finance
1%
Cash advance & revenue-based
0%

Funding that fits Derby businesses

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

Elsewhere in the East Midlands

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