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Scotland · Q3 2026 data

Business funding in Edinburgh

Edinburgh has 27,955 trading companies. 4,090 of them (14.6%) have secured borrowing registered at Companies House, below Scotland at 15.3% and the UK at 14.0%.

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27,955trading companies
14.6%have secured borrowing
1,347new companies in Q3 2026
5.1%late filing accounts

How Edinburgh's sectors borrow

The biggest sectors in Edinburgh, 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 45%.

Professional services4,126 companies
7%
Real estate & lettings3,700 companies
45%
Tech, media & telecoms3,219 companies
4%
Retail2,273 companies
5%
Business support services1,881 companies
12%
Restaurants, pubs & cafes1,822 companies
8%
Construction & trades1,483 companies
8%
Personal services1,149 companies
8%

Older businesses borrow more

Lenders like a track record. In Edinburgh, 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 years8,568 companies
4%
2 to 5 years5,441 companies
11%
5 to 10 years5,904 companies
15%
10 to 20 years5,402 companies
20%
Over 20 years2,640 companies
41%

Who's lending in Scotland

The 477 new lender charges we tracked against Scotland 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
64%
Specialist & alternative lenders
17%
Banks
8%
Asset finance
4%
Invoice finance
1%

Funding that fits Edinburgh businesses

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

Elsewhere in Scotland

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