Who we work with
Trades and construction
Trade businesses carry their costs early and get paid late. Materials, wages and plant hire all land before a progress claim is approved, and the bigger the job, the wider that gap gets. Winning better work can put more pressure on cash, not less.
That is the pattern most trade businesses come to us with, and it shapes which finance suits.
What owners in this industry come to us for
- Covering wages and materials before a progress payment arrives
- Buying or replacing plant, tooling and site equipment
- Adding a vehicle so another crew can work
- Taking on a contract larger than the usual run of work
- Bridging retention held back until practical completion
What lenders tend to look at
Lenders assessing a trade business usually want to understand the shape of the work as much as the totals, because a business doing a few large jobs looks very different from one doing many small ones even at the same turnover.
- How work arrives: ongoing contracts, tenders, or domestic jobs
- Payment terms you work to and how reliably clients meet them
- Concentration: how much depends on one builder or head contractor
- Plant and vehicles already owned or financed
- Trading history under the current ABN and licensing
- Whether directors own property
A situation we see often
A contractor wins a commercial job noticeably larger than usual. Wages and materials run for weeks before the first progress claim is even submitted, and payment follows the contract terms after that. The business is profitable on paper and short of cash in practice.
A specialist would usually look at working capital and invoice finance side by side here, matched against the job's payment schedule rather than to a general figure. This is an illustration of a common enquiry, not a client case study, and what suits any particular business depends on its own circumstances and the lender's assessment.
Finance that commonly suits
Common questions
We are subcontractors, not the head contractor. Does that matter?
It is relevant, because who owes you money affects some facilities considerably, particularly invoice finance. Tell the specialist how your contracts and payment chains are structured.
Can finance cover retention?
Retention held back until completion is a common cash flow pressure in this industry and there are facilities that deal with receivables. Whether one fits depends on your contracts, so it is worth raising specifically.
See which lenders fit your business
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