Stock Finance for Retailers | Inventory Funding UK
By Joshua Giles, Founder and Director · Reviewed by the CoreFi credit team
Last updated 20 July 2026
CoreFi is a broker, not a lender. We do not set rates and lenders make all credit decisions.
In short: £25k - £3M facility over Ongoing (12-month rolling). Stock finance is a revolving credit facility where the lender advances a percentage of your inventory value, typically 50-70% of cost price, and the line moves with your stock.
Stock finance is a revolving credit facility where the lender advances a percentage of your inventory value, typically 50-70% of cost price, and the line moves with your stock. You draw to buy, you repay as you sell, and the available balance resets automatically. The stock itself is the security, so no property charge is required.
For a retailer, the practical consequence is that you stop choosing between buying enough stock and keeping cash free. A gift shop heading into Q4 can take a £200k line against its warehouse, clear the debt by January, and start drawing again for Easter. The facility revolves on a 12-month rolling agreement rather than term-lending, so you are not paying interest on money you are not using.
The lender who says yes to this is usually a specialist asset-based lender or a trade finance house, not a high street bank. Banks find stock hard to value and harder to liquidate; specialist lenders have the audit infrastructure to run stock checks and understand retail inventory cycles. We place these deals with lenders who fund stock regularly and know which ones have appetite for your category of goods.
Key Benefits
- Advance rates of 50-70% against stock at cost, so a £300k inventory holding can free up to £210k in working capital without touching your property
- The facility revolves as you trade: repay from till receipts, redraw for the next order, no re-application each time
- Stock is the security, not your premises, so a retailer without commercial property can still access meaningful working capital
- Lenders can flex your limit ahead of peak season if you give them notice and your stock plan, so you are not caught short in November
Frequently Asked Questions
What advance rate will I get against stock?
Typically 50-70% of stock value at cost. The advance rate depends on the type of goods: non-perishable, easily resaleable items attract the higher end. Slow-moving lines, own-label ranges, and seasonal stock that has missed its window get discounted or excluded. As a broker we cannot set the rate; the lender decides it after reviewing your stock composition and turn data.
Does the stock need to be in a specific location?
The lender needs to know where the stock is and will carry out periodic audits, either in person or via third-party stock checkers. For retailers with multiple sites the facility can cover all locations, but each one needs to be disclosed and accessible. Goods sitting in a supplier's warehouse before delivery generally do not count until they are in your possession.
Can e-commerce businesses use stock finance?
Yes. Stock held in your own warehouse or in a third-party fulfilment centre is financeable. FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) stock is the difficult case: Amazon controls the goods and will not grant a lender security over inventory it holds. A few providers have found structures that work around this, but the advance rates are lower and the documentation is heavier.
What happens to unsold or slow-moving stock?
The lender will reduce the advance rate against lines that are not turning. If a product sits beyond the agreed ageing threshold, typically 90-180 days depending on the lender, it drops out of the eligible pool and your available facility shrinks accordingly. Clean inventory management and honest reporting protect your line; trying to obscure slow movers tends to surface at audit and creates bigger problems.
Related Funding Options
Retail Fit-Out & Expansion Loans (Unsecured)
Stock, fit-out & expansion funding for UK retailers with no property security required. We place unsecured business loans from £5k to £250k for high street & online shops.
Merchant Cash Advance for Retail Businesses
UK retailers can borrow against future card sales, repaying a percentage of daily takings rather than a fixed monthly sum. See how a merchant cash advance works for retail and what it actually costs.
Revenue-Based Finance for Retail & E-Commerce
Revenue-based finance for UK online retailers & e-commerce brands: repay as a share of sales, no equity, no fixed monthly commitment. We place these deals regularly.
Stock Finance UK: Inventory-Backed Working Capital
Stock finance advances 50 to 70% against inventory at cost, revolving as you sell and restock. We place these facilities for UK limited companies, from £25k.
Business finance by location
Lender appetite varies by city and region. If you would rather start from where your business is based, these local guides cover the same funding with the local picture.
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Get matched with lendersCoreFi is a trading name of JG Core Ltd (Company #16218779, England & Wales). CoreFi acts as a commercial finance broker and does not provide regulated financial advice. All products described are unregulated business-to-business finance. Information on this page is for general guidance only and does not constitute a formal offer of finance. Terms, rates, and availability are subject to lender criteria and may change without notice.