Export Finance for International Trade Businesses

Export finance is rarely one product. It is usually a stack: a working capital facility to fund production and shipping before your overseas buyer pays, credit insurance to cover you if they do not, and sometimes a letter of credit or UKEF-backed guarantee sitting behind the whole thing.\n\nThe mechanic that matters most for an import/export business is the advance against confirmed orders or invoices. A lender advances a percentage of the receivable (typically 70-90% of the invoice face value) on day one, you fulfil the order, and the balance clears when your buyer pays, usually 90 to 360 days out. The advance rate moves with the buyer's country, their creditworthiness, and whether credit insurance is in place.\n\nUKEF's General Export Facility is worth knowing about. It is a government-backed guarantee that sits behind your bank or lender's facility and can unlock better terms or higher availability than a commercial lender would offer on its own appetite. It is not a loan, it is a guarantee that makes the lender more comfortable. We work with providers who access UKEF directly, and not every lender does.\n\nOne honest limit: we are a broker, so we cannot promise you a rate or approval. The lender decides once it has seen your order book, your buyer's country risk, and your last two years' trading figures. What we do is place the deal with the lender whose appetite actually fits, rather than the one with the loudest marketing.