Retail Fit-Out & Expansion Loans (Unsecured)
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: An unsecured business loan gives a retailer a lump sum for stock, refit or marketing with fixed monthly repayments and no property charge, priced on turnover and trading history. Amounts typically run from £5k to £250k over 1 to 5 years, and most lenders ask a director for a personal guarantee. We are a broker and place your file with retail-friendly lenders.
Retail borrowing comes down to timing. You need stock six to eight weeks before it sells, the refit budget before the lease break, and the marketing spend before the campaign window closes. An unsecured business loan gives you a lump sum with fixed monthly repayments, so you know exactly what the capital costs before you commit and can model the return against it.
The mechanic is straightforward. The lender looks at twelve to twenty-four months of trading accounts and bank statements, plus your Stripe or Shopify sales data if you trade online, and decides on your cashflow rather than on bricks and mortar. That matters for retail because most shops lease their premises. There is no property to charge, and even where there is, a secured deal takes weeks while these lenders make a yes-or-no call in days.
What kills retail applications is thin bank statements relative to the loan ask, or a business trading under two years. A £60k request from a shop turning over £200k is achievable; the same ask from a shop turning over £80k is a harder pitch, and we will tell you that upfront. We are a broker, not a lender, so we cannot promise you a rate. What we can do is tell you which lenders on the panel are comfortable with retail and which will pass, before you waste a hard search on the wrong one.
Key Benefits
- Buy stock at supplier bulk terms now and repay from peak-season sales revenue rather than day-to-day cashflow, so the margin funds the loan instead of squeezing your float
- No property charge means no valuation and no waiting on a solicitor, which is the practical reality for the lease-holding retailers we place most often
- Fixed monthly repayments let you model the ROI before you draw: if a refit adds a known amount to monthly revenue, you can see in week one whether the deal stacks
- Online retailers are assessed on payment-processor history (Stripe, Shopify Payments, PayPal), so strong e-commerce metrics directly support a higher loan amount
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use it to buy stock?
Yes, and it is one of the cleaner retail use cases. You buy stock at the price available now, carry it through the season, and repay from the uplift in sales. The lender is effectively advancing you the margin before you have earned it. The risk sits on your sales forecast, not on an asset they can repossess, so they will want to see that your last one or two peak seasons actually performed.
What about online-only retailers?
Online retailers are eligible and often easier to assess. A clean Shopify or Stripe export showing twelve months of consistent revenue is exactly what these lenders want to see. The absence of a physical premises is not the problem it sounds, because the lender was never going to take a charge on it anyway.
Is it better than a merchant cash advance?
It depends what you are trying to do. An MCA repays as a percentage of card takings, so the payment drops when trade is slow, which suits lumpy or seasonal revenue. An unsecured loan has a fixed monthly payment and a defined end date, which is usually cheaper overall and better for a planned capital investment like a refit or a stock build. If you need cash this week for an urgent shortfall, an MCA can move faster. We can run both options side by side if the picture is not clear.
Can I get a loan to open a second shop?
Yes, expansion is a legitimate reason and lenders will consider it. What they want to see is that your existing location is profitable on a standalone basis, not just in aggregate with other income, and that you have a credible plan for the new site. If your first shop is marginal, the application is a harder sell, and we will be straight with you about that before we place it.
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.
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.
Stock Finance for Retailers | Inventory Funding UK
Stock finance for UK retailers: a revolving credit facility advanced against inventory at cost, typically 50-70% advance rate. We place these deals for high street & e-commerce businesses.
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.