Merchant Cash Advance in Glasgow
CoreFi arranges merchant cash advances, funding advanced against future card takings and repaid as a fixed share of each transaction, for Glasgow businesses, principally limited companies. We match your case to funders whose criteria fit. Advance sizes, factor rates and split percentages are indicative and depend on your card turnover and the funder's assessment.
A merchant cash advance advances a lump sum against your card turnover and takes repayment automatically as an agreed percentage of every card transaction until a fixed total is repaid. No fixed instalments: strong weeks repay more, quiet weeks repay less. Glasgow's independent trading economy is built for the product. The hospitality strip through Finnieston, the bars and restaurants of the Merchant City and Byres Road, the cafes and food businesses across the Southside, and the retail along Buchanan Street and its side streets all live on card takings, and all trade to a rhythm, gig nights at the Hydro, festival weeks, Old Firm fixtures, Christmas on the style mile, that a fixed loan payment ignores and a revenue-linked repayment absorbs.
CoreFi is a commercial finance broker, not a lender. We work with businesses, principally limited companies, to understand the trading pattern and match the case to funders whose criteria fit. We do not lend and we do not decide the outcome. Whether an advance is offered, and on what terms, depends on your card turnover, trading history and the funder's assessment. Any figure on this page is indicative and for illustration only.
- 1
Share your card turnover
Tell us about the business, the funding need and the timescale, and share recent merchant statements showing your monthly card takings.
- 2
We match you to funders
CoreFi identifies funders on our panel whose criteria fit your turnover, sector and trading pattern, and we help you compare the terms that come back on total cost, not just headline size.
- 3
Review terms and draw down
If an offer works, the funder completes checks and the advance is paid, with repayments taken automatically as the agreed share of card takings. Timescales are the funder's, though this product is typically one of the faster ones.
How a merchant cash advance actually works
Three numbers define it. The advance: typically up to around one month's card turnover. The factor rate: the multiplier setting the fixed total repayable, so £25,000 at a factor of 1.25 means £31,250 repaid regardless of timing. The split: the agreed percentage of each card settlement, commonly between 5 and 20 per cent, deducted automatically until the total clears. There is no accruing interest, which makes the cost easy to state and also means early repayment does not usually reduce it. The honest comparison is always against a term loan for the same cash over the same likely period, and we make that comparison with you before anything is signed.
Who uses it in Glasgow, and for what
The recurring Glasgow cases: a Finnieston restaurant funding a refit or kitchen upgrade between seasons; a Southside cafe covering a fit-out overrun; a Merchant City bar bridging the gap to a busy quarter after a slow one; an independent retailer buying Christmas stock in September; a salon or barbershop adding chairs and staff. The card-heavy filter is what matters: a business taking most of its money by invoice is normally better served by invoice finance, and thin card volume will not raise a useful advance. Glasgow's hospitality economy, one of the densest outside London, is card-first almost everywhere, which is why funders read the city's merchant statements comfortably.
How CoreFi works and what we are
CoreFi is a trading name of JG Core Ltd. We are a commercial finance broker, not a lender. Broking unregulated commercial finance to limited companies does not require FCA authorisation, and we do not hold ourselves out as FCA authorised or regulated. Our role is to understand your trading, package the case clearly and introduce it to funders on our panel whose criteria fit, then help you compare what comes back on total cost. You deal directly with the funder on the advance itself. We cannot promise an approval or specific terms. What we can do is tell you plainly when a cheaper product fits better, and find the right funder when the advance genuinely is the fit.
What funders look at
Card turnover, evidenced by several months of merchant statements, sizes the advance. Stability and trend matter next: an established site with two years of consistent takings reads better than a new opening, and funders will read Glasgow's seasonality, strong Decembers, event-driven spikes, without penalising it if the pattern is consistent year on year. Then the fundamentals: the company's standing, the directors, existing advances or loans, and what the money is for. Stacking advances multiplies cost quickly and needs honest arithmetic before, not after. Scottish registration is no obstacle: the funders we match to fund Scottish limited companies as standard. All terms are the funder's decision on the specific case.
Frequently asked questions
How much can a Glasgow business raise with a merchant cash advance?
Typically up to around one month's card turnover, sometimes more for established businesses. A bar taking £45,000 a month on cards might raise an advance in that region. The funder sizes it from evidenced average takings, and every figure is indicative until they assess the case.
What does a merchant cash advance cost?
Cost is set by the factor rate, broadly 1.2 to 1.4 on the advance, so £25,000 advanced might mean £30,000 to £35,000 repaid in total. That usually works out dearer than a term loan for the same cash, which is why we run that comparison with you before you commit.
Do funders lend to Scottish businesses?
Yes. Merchant cash advances are secured on card takings rather than property, so the Scottish legal differences that filter some property lenders do not apply. The funders we work with fund Scottish limited companies as standard.
What happens in a quiet month?
Repayments fall with takings, because they are a percentage of each transaction rather than a fixed instalment. For seasonal Glasgow trades, hospitality especially, that flexibility is the product's main advantage. A strong month repays faster without usually reducing the fixed total.
Is a merchant cash advance right for my business?
It fits card-heavy businesses with a short-term need and consistent takings. If your revenue is invoiced, invoice finance is usually cheaper; for longer-term needs a business loan usually costs less in total. We will tell you straight which product fits before matching you to funders.
Is CoreFi FCA authorised?
CoreFi arranges commercial finance for businesses, principally limited companies. Broking unregulated commercial finance to limited companies does not require FCA authorisation, and we do not hold ourselves out as FCA authorised or regulated.
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