Cash Flow for Creative Businesses
The project is live, the team is on the clock, and the client invoice sits unpaid for 45 to 60 days. We place finance that closes that gap.
£116bn
UK creative industries GVA
210,000+
Creative businesses in the UK
Creative and media businesses bill by project or milestone, which means you carry payroll long before you see the money. A design agency with six figures in signed contracts can still miss a salary run when three clients pay late at once. Invoice finance is usually the first thing we reach for: a lender advances a large share of the face value of your debtor book, cash lands within a day or two of you raising an invoice, and the facility grows as your billings grow. For studios spending on kit, software licences, or production space, asset finance or a term loan is often the cleaner route. And if any of your work involves genuine technical development, an R&D tax credit advance can turn a claim you are already owed into working capital well before HMRC pays out. Approval and terms are never guaranteed; they depend on your business and on lender appetite.
Common Challenges in Creative & Media
Milestone billing leaves you exposed between stages
Clients pay on delivery, not on your cost curve. The team is billing hours in month one; the client settles in month three. That gap comes out of your reserves unless you have a facility in place.
Freelancers do not wait for your client to settle
Contractors expect payment within 30 days regardless of when your client pays. Carry a large freelance book on a slow-paying account and the mismatch gets painful fast.
Pitch and speculative costs with no guarantee of a return
Winning a retained account or a competitive brief can cost thousands in time, deck production, and bought-in research. That spend happens before a single invoice is raised.
Software and kit run on subscription and replacement cycles
Adobe, Avid, and DaVinci licences, camera bodies, edit suites. None of it pauses when a client delays payment. Asset finance or a revolving facility lets you manage those commitments without draining working capital.
Finance Solutions for Creative & Media
We work with specialist lenders to find the right product for your business.
Invoice Finance
Draw against your outstanding invoices as soon as you raise them. The facility scales with your debtor book, so headroom rises when you win bigger accounts.
Learn moreUnsecured Business Loans
Fixed-term loan for a specific purpose: a senior hire, a kit upgrade, a studio fit-out. Repaid over 6 to 60 months from revenue, with no charge over your assets.
Learn moreR&D Tax Credit Advance
If you are already claiming R&D tax credits for software, game, or digital product development, an advance lender pays you a proportion of the expected HMRC refund now instead of you waiting months for it.
Learn moreRevolving Credit
A credit line you draw and repay as needed. Better suited to ongoing operational costs than a term loan, because you only pay interest on what you have drawn.
Learn moreWork out your numbers
Free calculators for the products creative & media businesses use most.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can a small design agency use invoice finance?
Often, yes. Many invoice finance lenders will look at businesses from around £50,000 to £100,000 in annual turnover, and some facilities start lower. The main requirement is that you invoice other businesses on credit terms rather than selling to consumers. We cannot promise a rate or an advance percentage upfront: the lender sets those based on the quality and concentration of your debtor book, and whether they take you on at all comes down to their appetite.
Do creative agencies qualify for R&D tax credits?
Some do and some do not, and the distinction matters. If your agency develops software, games, apps, or digital products where there was real technical uncertainty in the work, you may have a legitimate claim. VFX, animation, and interactive studios often qualify; pure design or brand work generally does not. The claim itself sits between you and an R&D tax specialist or your accountant. We can only advance against a claim that already exists or is in preparation, so get it assessed first.
My income is lumpy, big project payments with gaps between. What actually fits?
Usually a revolving credit facility rather than a term loan: you draw when a project gap opens, repay when the invoice lands, and pay interest only on what you use. If the lumpiness comes from clients paying on 30 to 60 day terms, invoice finance attacks the cause directly. A fixed monthly loan repayment is the worst shape for project-based income, because the payment falls due whether or not the milestone has been paid. Lenders will read your last twelve months of bank statements to see the pattern, and retainer income alongside project work strengthens the case.
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