Trade finance in Birmingham
Trade finance funds the gap between paying an overseas supplier and collecting from your customer. A lender pays the supplier against agreed documents and you repay on settlement. CoreFi arranges it for Birmingham businesses, principally limited companies importing components, materials or stock. Terms depend on the goods, the counterparties and the trading history.
Birmingham and the Black Country still make and move physical goods at scale. Automotive components, metals and castings, fasteners, and the precious metals trade around the Jewellery Quarter all involve buying materials abroad and selling on at home, often with months between the two. Trade finance funds that interval.
CoreFi is a commercial finance broker. We arrange trade finance for Birmingham businesses, principally limited companies, across import finance, letters of credit and supply chain facilities. We package the case, approach lenders whose appetite matches the goods and the counterparties, and manage it to drawdown. We are not tied to any lender.
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Tell us what you need
Tell us what you import, from where, who you sell to and on what terms. It costs nothing to start and there is no obligation.
- 2
We match you with suitable lenders
We assess your situation against our whole-of-market panel and identify the lenders whose criteria actually fit, rather than applying everywhere.
- 3
We package and submit
We prepare the case with the documents the lender will ask for and put it in front of the lenders most likely to fund it.
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Offer and drawdown
The lender issues terms and, on acceptance, releases the facility. We manage the process through to completion.
Why West Midlands importers run short of working capital
A components supplier or metals trader typically pays an overseas mill or foundry well before shipment, absorbs duty on arrival, then sells to customers who pay on 30 to 60 day terms. On a rising order book that gap widens every month, which is why fast-growing importers so often feel poorer than their profit and loss suggests.
Material price volatility sharpens it further. When metal prices move, the cash needed to place the same order changes without any change in the volume you are selling, and a fixed overdraft does not flex with it.
How the facility is structured
The lender settles with your supplier against agreed documents and you repay when your buyer pays, with the goods as primary security. Letters of credit are common where an overseas supplier will not ship to a new UK account without a bank guarantee of payment.
For Jewellery Quarter businesses in particular, be aware that precious metals sit in a narrower lane: assay, storage and title arrangements matter to lenders, and the panel that will fund gold or silver stock is much smaller than the one that will fund steel or components. That is worth knowing before you spend weeks with a lender who was never going to write it.
What lenders will and will not fund
Lenders want identifiable goods with a resale market, verifiable counterparties, and a completed trading cycle they can point to. Standard components, raw materials and branded stock are straightforward. Bespoke parts made to a single customer's drawing are harder, because their value collapses if that customer walks.
Sanctions and country risk also bite here more than in domestic products. Trade routes through some jurisdictions will narrow your panel sharply regardless of how good the underlying business is, and it is better to establish that at the start than after a month of underwriting.
Frequently asked questions
Do you cover all of Birmingham and the West Midlands?
Yes. We work with businesses across Birmingham and the wider West Midlands, from the Jewellery Quarter and Tyseley to Solihull, the Black Country and the NEC corridor. The lenders we match you to will confirm whether they fund your specific sector and trade routes.
Do you lend the money yourselves?
No. CoreFi is a commercial finance broker, not a lender. We arrange the facility with lenders on our panel and are paid a commission by the lender on completion. If we think trade finance is the wrong product for your situation we will say so.
Do I need to be importing already?
Most lenders want to see a trading history with the supplier and the buyer, typically two or more years of accounts showing international trade. A first order to a brand new supplier is the hardest case to fund, because the lender is underwriting a relationship that has no track record.
Is trade finance cheaper than an unsecured loan?
For the purchase-to-payment cycle on repeat orders it usually is, because the facility is secured against the goods rather than against the business generally. An unsecured loan is better for costs outside that cycle. The two are not competing and some clients hold both.
Get matched with lenders for your Birmingham business
Tell us what your business needs and we will match you with lenders whose criteria fit. No obligation, no cost to start the conversation, and a straight answer about what is realistic for your situation.
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