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West Midlands · Q3 2026 data

Business funding in Stoke-On-Trent

Stoke-On-Trent has 10,965 trading companies. 1,520 of them (13.9%) have secured borrowing registered at Companies House, below the West Midlands at 14.4% and the UK at 14.0%.

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10,965trading companies
13.9%have secured borrowing
606new companies in Q3 2026
3.3%late filing accounts

How Stoke-On-Trent's sectors borrow

The biggest sectors in Stoke-On-Trent, 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 46%.

Real estate & lettings1,368 companies
46%
Retail1,225 companies
5%
Construction & trades1,045 companies
7%
Professional services1,006 companies
7%
Tech, media & telecoms637 companies
4%
Haulage & logistics625 companies
6%
Restaurants, pubs & cafes611 companies
5%
Manufacturing558 companies
22%

Older businesses borrow more

Lenders like a track record. In Stoke-On-Trent, 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 years4,076 companies
4%
2 to 5 years2,135 companies
12%
5 to 10 years2,222 companies
18%
10 to 20 years1,734 companies
20%
Over 20 years798 companies
44%

Who's lending in the West Midlands

The 362 new lender charges we tracked against the West 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
55%
Specialist & alternative lenders
15%
Banks
10%
Asset finance
7%
Cash advance & revenue-based
1%

Funding that fits Stoke-On-Trent businesses

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

Elsewhere in the West Midlands

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