Business loans for Romanian-owned UK companies.

What we cover

• Working capital line , revolving facility. £5k-£250k. Best for cashflow gaps.
• Merchant cash advance (MCA) , lump sum repaid from daily card takings. £5k-£500k. Best for hospitality, beauty, retail.
• Asset finance , vehicles, kitchen equipment, EPOS, plant. £1k-£500k. Tax-deductible.
• Invoice finance , advance against unpaid invoices. £25k+. Best for B2B trading or construction subcontracting.
• HMRC pressure funding , short-term cash to clear a VAT or PAYE arrears notice. Time-critical.

What lenders actually look at

UK alternative lenders look at the company's bank feed, Companies House filings, and director credit. Citizenship is not a factor. The barriers Romanian owners typically hit are:

1. UK director credit file thinness. If you moved to the UK in the last 3 years, your personal credit file may be too thin for some lenders to make an offer. We route you to lenders who underwrite the business first.
2. Trading history under 6 months. Most lenders want 6+ months of UK bank statements. If you are below that threshold, we point you at the few lenders who lend earlier.
3. Cash-heavy bank statements. Some sectors (laundry, car wash, hospitality) deposit a lot of cash. We route to lenders who don't penalise this.

Important: we are an introducer, not a lender

Kartapay refers you to UK FCA-authorised lenders. We are not a lender ourselves and we are not authorised or regulated by the FCA. We are not a Romanian lender. We are operated by Best Business Loans Ltd, UK Companies House 16833937, registered in Essex. Every lender we refer you to is FCA-authorised and you can verify their authorisation on the FCA Financial Services Register. We do not charge you a fee , the lender pays us an introducer fee, disclosed before you submit.

The cost of money , what to actually compare

Most Romanian-speaking SME owners ranking UK finance offers compare the headline APR. The headline APR is rarely the decision-relevant number. What matters:

• Effective annual cost , the headline APR plus any arrangement fee, monthly service fee, draw-down fee, and early-repayment penalty, divided by the actual cash you receive. A 12% headline on a 12-month £50k facility with a £1,500 arrangement fee + £30/month service fee is closer to 18% effective.
• Factor rate vs APR , merchant cash advance is quoted as a factor (e.g. 1.25) not an APR. £50k at 1.25 means you repay £62,500 total. If the term is 6 months that is roughly 50% APR-equivalent. If 18 months, roughly 17%. Always convert.
• Personal guarantee scope , some lenders require a PG for the full loan; others cap it at 10-20%; UK BBL refinance lenders sometimes do not require PG at all if the original BBL did not. Ask before you sign.
• Cash-flow timing , MCA debits daily as a % of card takings (cash flow flexes with you); term loans debit a fixed monthly amount (predictable but unforgiving if a slow month hits). Pick based on your trading pattern.

Common Romanian-UK trading patterns we route differently

Three sector patterns we see repeatedly in Romanian-owned UK businesses, each with a slightly different lender route:

• Construction subcontracting , long payment terms from main contractors (60-120 days), HMRC CIS deductions, irregular cash-in. Best fit: invoice finance + standby term facility. Avoid: MCA (no card sales to hold against).
• Car wash + hand-wash , cash-heavy bank statements, seasonal volume swing. Best fit: term loan against asset (the wash equipment) + small overdraft. Avoid: most invoice finance (no B2B invoices to advance against).
• Hospitality + takeaway , high card volume, thin margins, weekly fixed costs. Best fit: MCA (cash flow tracks card takings) + asset finance for kitchen equipment refresh. Avoid: long-term loans with fixed monthly debit during a known seasonal trough.