Unsecured Business Loans for Professional Services Firms
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: £10k - £500k over 1 - 5 years. Professional services is one of the cleaner cases for an unsecured product.
Professional services is one of the cleaner cases for an unsecured product. You have strong margins, recurring revenue, and recognisable clients, but no factory floor and no stock to pledge. The lenders who do this sector well are not looking for bricks; they are underwriting your pipeline, your client concentration, and the directors' track records.
The mechanic is simple. The lender advances a fixed sum, repaid monthly over one to five years, priced on a personal guarantee from the directors rather than a charge over property. Rates move with the lender and the deal profile, and no broker can hand you a firm number before a lender has seen your accounts and management information. Anyone who quotes you a rate cold is guessing.
Where we place these most often: hiring a fee-earner ahead of the revenue arriving, because the lag between headcount cost and billing is real; funding a practice buy-in where the incoming partner needs their own facility; fitting out new offices when a lease deposit and the works land at the same time; and covering the cash flow gap on a large retainer project where payment terms run past 60 days. The lender who says yes here is usually a challenger bank or a specialist unsecured lender, not the relationship manager at your high street bank. We are a broker; we take your file to the lenders whose appetite actually fits it.
Key Benefits
- A personal guarantee replaces the need for a property charge, which matters when your directors do not own premises or do not want to encumber them.
- Recurring client revenue and long-term retainer contracts read as income stability to an underwriter, and that tends to sharpen your terms.
- Practice buy-ins are an accepted loan purpose, and the lender will assess the practice financials alongside the incoming partner's personal income.
- Revenue concentration is a genuine underwriting concern. A consultancy where one client is 60% of turnover will face tighter terms than one spread across 20 clients in different sectors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use it to fund a practice buy-in?
Yes, and it is one of the more common uses we place in professional services. Partners buying into accountancy, legal, or medical practices use unsecured term loans to fund their share. The lender assesses your personal income history alongside the practice accounts, so having two or three years of filed accounts for the practice helps considerably.
How is a consultancy assessed by lenders?
The underwriter looks at your client list, revenue concentration, contract pipeline, and net margin. A consultancy with five blue-chip clients on rolling contracts sits very differently to one with 30 small clients on project fees. Both can borrow, but the terms reflect the stability of the income. Directors with strong personal credit histories and a clean Companies House record strengthen the case.
Can I borrow to fund a new office?
Yes. Lease deposits, fit-out costs, and relocation expenses are accepted loan purposes. If the fit-out figure is large, it is worth checking whether a commercial mortgage on the premises works better long-term, but for a leasehold fit-out an unsecured term loan is usually the right tool.
How long does an unsecured term loan run?
Typically one to five years, repaid monthly, priced on a director's personal guarantee rather than a charge over property. The exact term and rate depend on the lender and your trading profile, which is why we take your accounts to the panel rather than quoting a figure up front.
Work out your numbers
Related Funding Options
Unsecured Business Loans UK: £1k to £500k, No Property Security
Unsecured business loans from £1k to £500k for UK limited companies. No charge on your property. We broker these deals and can tell you which lenders are open to your sector & turnover.
Invoice Finance for Professional Services Firms
Confidential invoice discounting for consultancies, IT firms, law firms and accountancy practices. Release cash from 30 to 60 day client invoices without your clients knowing.
Revolving Credit Facility for Professional Services Firms
Revolving credit for UK law firms, consultancies, and professional practices. Draw when you need it, repay when invoices clear. We place these across the panel.
Business loans 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.