Allica Bank business loans: what it lends, who qualifies and what it costs

Allica Bank lends to established UK limited companies from £25,001 to £150,000 unsecured over one to five years, and up to £15m secured through growth finance, asset finance, or a commercial mortgage. It wants two to three years of filed accounts and a director's personal guarantee. Here's what each one costs, checked on 13 October 2026.

Allica's unsecured business loan stops at £150,000 and its growth finance starts at £1m. In iwoca's SME Expert Index (May 2025), 67% of finance brokers said they recommend alternative lenders for loan applications over £100,000, against 6% who recommend high street banks.

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Allica Bank lending at a glance

Allica Bank lends from £25,001 to £15m across six products, and only growth finance starts at £1m. Everything else begins between £25,000 and £150,000, so the question is which product fits, not whether you're big enough.

Allica holds a UK banking licence granted in September 2019 and is built for businesses with between 5 and 250 employees. It has lent over £3.5bn to established businesses, holds £4bn in savings deposits, and says over 30,000 businesses bank with it. It lends in England, Scotland, and Wales only.

Most limited companies comparing Allica are looking at the first row: its version of unsecured business loans.

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Allica's unsecured business loan runs from £25,001 to £150,000

Allica's unsecured business loan lends £25,001 to £150,000 over one to five years at 9.90% to 13.75%, with a 3% arrangement fee and no early repayment charges. It's the only Allica facility you can apply for online without speaking to a relationship manager.

The rate depends on size. Allica's July 2026 product guide prices loans up to £75,000 at 11.75% to 13.75%, and loans above £75,000 at 9.90% to 12.00%. You can add the 3% arrangement fee to the balance or have it deducted from what lands in your account.

Repayments are capital and interest from day one, so this is a term loan rather than a facility you dip into. Clearing it sooner only saves interest.

Three things decide whether you qualify:

• Your company is a limited company or a limited liability partnership in England, Scotland, or Wales.
• You have at least three years of filed accounts.
• Your earnings cover the repayments 1.5 times over, which Allica calls 150% debt service cover.

Allica secures the loan with a personal guarantee from the director or directors who ultimately own the company. A personal guarantee is your legal commitment to repay the company's debt if the company can't, so it's worth checking whether yours is capped and which directors have to sign before you commit.

On timing, Allica gives a decision in principle in minutes, decides loans up to £75,000 automatically, and says it aims to give a full decision no later than the next working day. If you don't already bank with Allica, it asks to connect to your business account through open banking instead of waiting on statements.

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Growth finance is bespoke secured lending from £1m to £15m

Allica's growth finance lends £1m to £15m over three to six years. It's secured lending, priced case by case rather than from a published rate card, and it's built for acquisitions, buy-outs, and large expansions.

Unlike a conventional secured business loan, a growth finance facility doesn't have to be fully asset-backed. Allica says it takes a flexible view of collateral and will look at receivables, equipment, inventory, and property together, which is how it funds companies whose value sits in contracts rather than freeholds.

The eligibility bar is the highest in Allica's range. Your company needs to be a UK limited company trading for at least 24 months on a business-to-business model, with turnover above £5m and earnings of £500,000 or more.

Allica publishes neither rates nor arrangement fees for growth finance, so there's no way to compare the cost before you speak to it. Companies typically use the facility for buying another business, funding a management buy-out or buy-in, restructuring existing debt, or releasing capital from assets they already own.

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Asset finance from £25,000 to £2.5m, priced by asset type

Allica's asset finance lends £25,000 to £2.5m over up to seven years, at 7.00% to 9.20%. It can fund up to 100% of the purchase and is secured on the asset itself, so you don't have to put property up.

What you pay depends on how well the asset holds its value. Hard assets such as plant, machinery, and commercial vehicles sit at the bottom of that range and can run to seven years. Medium and soft assets, including technology and fit-out equipment, cost more and cap at five years. Allica funds all of its medium and soft asset deals through the Growth Guarantee Scheme.

The fees are fixed rather than a percentage: a £295 documentation fee, a £199 plus VAT option-to-purchase fee at the end of the agreement, and a £100 plus VAT fee if you swap one asset for another. Allica charges no annual service fee.

Allica wants two years of full accounts for asset finance, and it will refinance equipment you already own as well as funding new purchases. It covers most business equipment, from manufacturing and agricultural machinery to catering, medical, and IT kit.

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Commercial mortgages up to £15m, over as long as 30 years

Allica lends £150,000 to £10m on premises you occupy and up to £15m on property you let, over five to 30 years. Five-year fixed rates run from 6.40% to 8.55%, and variable rates sit at the Bank of England base rate plus 1.80% to 3.90%.

It will lend up to 80% of an owner-occupied property's value and up to 75% on an investment property. Arrangement fees are 1.5% on owner-occupied mortgages and 2% on investment mortgages, and there's a £500 commitment fee payable before the valuation is booked and refunded when the loan completes.

Allica has waived arrangement fees on eligible commercial mortgage applications of £750,000 or more, and specialist buy-to-let applications of £1.5m or more, for applications received between 7 July 2026 and 31 December 2026. It's a dated promotion, so check whether it still stands.

Leaving early costs money. A five-year fixed rate carries an early repayment charge of 5%, 4%, 3%, 2% then 1% across years one to five, and a variable rate carries 3% for the first five years. Allica is also clear that breaking a fixed rate can cost more than the published charge if swap rates have fallen since you took it, because you cover the cost of unwinding the hedge. An overpayment allowance applies each year, and your offer letter sets the figure.

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Allica also lends through overdrafts, invoice finance, and bridging

Allica offers a business overdraft, invoice finance, and bridging finance alongside its loans and mortgages. It's an accredited Growth Guarantee Scheme lender for four of those products, though not for commercial mortgages or bridging.

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A business overdraft over £25,000, up to £2m

Allica's business overdraft runs from over £25,000 to £2m, with a 1.5% arrangement fee on the agreed limit and interest usually between 3.75% and 11% over the Bank of England base rate. You pay interest only on what you draw, and there's no fee for leaving the limit unused.

To qualify you need 24 months of trading, turnover above £500,000, a profitable business, and an Allica business account. With Growth Guarantee Scheme support, the turnover floor drops to £300,000.

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Invoice finance from £100,000, through Kriya

Allica offers invoice finance of £100,000 to £5m, advancing up to 90% of an invoice's value, with draw-down in 12 hours. It comes through Kriya, which Allica now owns outright, so it's newer to Allica's range than the rest.

It suits companies invoicing other businesses on credit terms and needing the cash before those invoices clear. Whether the facility is set up as factoring or discounting changes who chases your customers for payment, so it's worth asking which Allica is offering.

Allica's bridging finance runs from £150,000 to £10m over three to 24 months, for property purchases and refurbishments that need settling before longer-term funding is in place.

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Allica and the Growth Guarantee Scheme

Allica is accredited to lend under the Growth Guarantee Scheme for asset finance of £30,000 to £1m, business loans of £150,000 to £2m, overdrafts of £25,001 to £2m, and growth finance of £1m to £10m with a government-backed guarantee of up to £2m. Terms run to six years for loans and asset finance, and three years for growth finance.

Group turnover has to be £45m or less. The guarantee protects Allica, not you: you remain liable for the full balance.

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Who can apply, and what Allica asks you to sign

Allica lends to companies with a trading record, in England, Scotland, and Wales only, and the test changes by product: three years of filed accounts for the unsecured business loan, two years for asset finance and commercial mortgages, and 24 months plus turnover above £5m for growth finance.

That trading record is the line most companies fall the wrong side of. A company in its first year or two won't meet any of these tests, and a company based in Northern Ireland is outside Allica's lending area altogether.

Allica asks for the same information whichever product you apply for:

• Your registered company number, legal status, and address.
• The details of the director applying on the company's behalf, who has to be authorised to do it.
• How much you want and what it's for.
• Financial records, including profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash flow.
• Bank statements from your business account, or open banking access instead.
• Details of loans and credit agreements you already have.
• Business plans and forecasts, for the larger facilities.

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What works well about Allica, and what to watch

Allica's strengths are published rates across most of its lending, a named relationship manager on the larger facilities, and a flexible view of security. The trade-offs are a trading record newer companies won't have, a 3% arrangement fee on the unsecured loan, and lending written by group companies that aren't themselves regulated.

What works well

• Published rate cards on the business loan, overdraft, asset finance, and commercial mortgages, so you can compare before you apply.
• No early repayment charges on the unsecured business loan.
• A flexible view of security on growth finance, taking in receivables, equipment, and inventory as well as property.
• A dedicated relationship manager on growth finance, asset finance, and mortgages.
• Independent recognition: Allica topped Deloitte's UK Technology Fast 50 in 2024 for a second year running, with three-year growth of 13,411%, and it reports an 'Excellent' Trustpilot rating.

What to watch

• An arrangement fee on the unsecured business loan, which lands whether you hold the money for five years or five weeks.
• Growth finance rates and fees aren't published, so the cost only becomes clear once you're in a conversation.
• Bridging and asset finance are written by Allica Bridging Finance Limited and Allica Financial Services Limited, neither of which is authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority or the Prudential Regulation Authority.

Allica is likely to be the wrong fit if your company is under two years old, needs less than £25,000, trades in Northern Ireland, or needs the money inside a week.

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Where Allica sits among UK business lenders

Allica occupies the middle of the market: larger facilities and longer terms than most online lenders, and a lower minimum than the clearing banks ask for on a relationship-managed loan. Other lenders aiming at established companies include Aldermore, OakNorth, Shawbrook, and ThinCats.

The contrast with the high street is about shape rather than size. NatWest's Small Business Loan, for example, lends £1,000 to £100,000, so it starts far lower than Allica's £25,001 and stops before Allica's secured facilities begin. On a £1m-plus facility, OakNorth is the closest comparison, and you can compare business loans from banks and other lenders range by range.

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When a smaller, faster loan fits better than an Allica facility

An Allica facility is built for a planned purchase you'll repay over years, so it's the wrong shape for a timing problem: a payroll run due before a customer pays, stock to buy before a peak, a deposit before an asset starts earning.

Victoria Simpson deals with that gap every month. Her care company, VCare Group, invoices local authorities that take 30 to 60 days to pay, while 200 staff need paying on the same date regardless. She draws about £200,000 to cover payroll and repays it within a week.

'It might be just a two or three day gap. But when you've got payroll running at that level, two or three days matters.'

Nothing in Allica's range is built for a week. Its business loan repays capital and interest from day one over one to five years, and the 3% arrangement fee costs the same whether the money is with you for five years or five days. Growth finance starts at £1m. A commercial mortgage runs on a valuation and two sets of solicitors.

That's the gap an iwoca Flexi-Loan is for. It's a business loan with flexible repayment options: you draw what you need, interest builds only on what you've drawn and only for the days you hold it, and repaying early costs nothing. Give £200,000 back after a week and you've paid for a week.

The same mismatch shows up on size. The band between Allica's unsecured ceiling and its growth finance floor is a wide one, and a bank facility pitched there is either too small or too big for the job. In iwoca's SME Expert Index (May 2025), 67% of the finance brokers surveyed said they recommend alternative lenders for loan applications over £100,000, against 6% who recommend high street banks, and 42% expected demand above £100,000 to grow fastest over the following 12 months. A Flexi-Loan runs from £1,000 to £1m, over terms up to five years.

What it costs, and what we ask for. Our rates start from 1.5% per 30 days, and there's no fee for repaying early - our business loan calculator shows what you'd repay. We lend to UK limited companies, and every new Flexi-Loan needs a personal guarantee from at least one director, although not every director has to sign. You'll get a decision within 24 hours. We report repayments to Experian and Equifax every month, so clearing a short borrow on time builds your company's credit file as well as closing the gap. Since 2012 we've lent £5bn+ to 100,000+ small businesses in the UK.

If what you need is a planned purchase you'll hold for years, Allica's published rates will usually cost less over that term than a Flexi-Loan would. The comparison only tips our way when the money is needed quickly, or given back quickly.

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Allica Bank business loan FAQs

Is Allica Bank safe, and is my money protected?

Allica Bank Limited holds a UK banking licence granted in September 2019, and is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority under reference 821851. Eligible deposits are protected up to £120,000. Its lending isn't a regulated product, and its bridging and asset finance are written by Allica Bridging Finance Limited and Allica Financial Services Limited, neither of which is authorised or regulated by either body.

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Who owns Allica Bank?

Allica Bank Limited is an independent UK bank, company number 07706156, registered at 15 Worship Street in London. It isn't a subsidiary of a high street banking group and it isn't listed on a stock exchange, so it's privately backed. Allica keeps its investor information on allica.bank rather than naming shareholders on its product pages.

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Does Allica lend to start-ups?

Allica doesn't lend to start-ups in practice. Every Allica lending product asks for a trading record: three years of filed accounts for the business loan, two years for asset finance and commercial mortgages, and 24 months of trading for growth finance and the overdraft. A company in its first year or two won't clear those tests.

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How quickly does Allica decide?

Allica aims to give a decision on its unsecured business loan no later than the next working day, with a decision in principle in minutes and automated decisions on loans up to £75,000. Secured facilities take longer, because a valuation and legal work sit between the offer and the money.

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What is Allica's acceptance rate?

Allica doesn't publish one, and nor do most UK lenders. What it does publish is more useful: the tests an application has to pass, including filed accounts, debt service cover, and a turnover floor on the overdraft and growth finance.

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Does Allica offer a business credit card?

Allica lists no business credit card on allica.bank (checked on 13 October 2026). Its Business Rewards Account comes with a debit card earning up to 1.5% cashback on card spend, which isn't the same thing, because a debit card spends money you already hold.

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Can I repay an Allica loan early?

Allica's unsecured business loan carries no early repayment charges. Commercial mortgages do: a five-year fixed rate carries 5%, 4%, 3%, 2% then 1% across years one to five, and a variable rate carries 3% for the first five years. Breaking a fixed rate can cost more than the published charge if swap rates have fallen since you took it.