7 Factors That Determine Your Rate
- 1Business age and credit history - established businesses with clean credit attract the keenest rates
- 2Asset type and age - new hard assets attract lower rates than old or soft assets
- 3Finance amount - larger facilities often attract better rates
- 4Deposit percentage - more deposit = lower risk = lower rate
- 5Term - shorter terms are lower risk but higher monthly cost
- 6Sector - manufacturing is generally viewed favourably by lenders
- 7Director personal credit - reviewed by most lenders alongside business credit
How Using a Broker Beats Going Direct
When you approach a single lender directly, you receive one rate at their current standard pricing. A specialist broker like Doulton Bridging Finance presents your case simultaneously to 130+ lenders, creating competitive tension. Lenders also offer brokers preferential pricing because of the volume of introduced business - rates we access are often 0.5–1.5% below their walk-in rates.
What DBF Does Differently
Unlike comparison sites that generate leads, DBF actually structures your case: we prepare a credit submission, present to multiple lenders, negotiate terms and manage the process to drawdown. We provide a written rate comparison so you can see exactly what each lender offered and why we recommend the chosen facility.
6.9% vs 9.5% - Broker vs Direct
Business: £1.2m turnover engineering company, 9 years trading Asset: New 5-axis machining centre, £220,000 Direct approach to high-street bank: 9.5% APR - monthly payment £4,610 Via DBF (whole market): 6.9% APR with Aldermore - monthly payment £4,250 Monthly saving: £360 Saving over 60 months: £21,600 DBF fee: paid by the lender - no cost to client