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South East · Q3 2026 data

Business funding in Guildford

Guildford has 6,387 trading companies. 966 of them (15.1%) have secured borrowing registered at Companies House, above the South East at 13.7% and the UK at 14.0%.

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6,387trading companies
15.1%have secured borrowing
191new companies in Q3 2026
5.1%late filing accounts

How Guildford's sectors borrow

The biggest sectors in Guildford, 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 43%.

Professional services1,226 companies
6%
Tech, media & telecoms841 companies
9%
Real estate & lettings738 companies
43%
Construction & trades469 companies
10%
Business support services439 companies
11%
Retail354 companies
6%
Personal services246 companies
7%
Holding companies213 companies
22%

Older businesses borrow more

Lenders like a track record. In Guildford, 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 years1,340 companies
4%
2 to 5 years1,079 companies
10%
5 to 10 years1,484 companies
16%
10 to 20 years1,619 companies
15%
Over 20 years865 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 Guildford businesses

Plain-English guides to the kinds of funding that suit Guildford'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 Guildford. "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.