Business loans Aberdeen: funds, figures and lenders for Aberdeen firms
Business loans in Aberdeen are priced like loans anywhere in the UK, but they are secured under Scots law and some lenders on any panel do not lend in Scotland at all. Below are the Aberdeen figures, funds and lender rules that shape a search, each linked to its source.
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- Enterprises (ONS 2026)
- 7,760
- Under 10 staff
- 84.7%
- Top sector: health and social care
- 16.5% of jobs
- Regional fund (BBB)
- IFS
- Legal system
- Scots law
On this page
Aberdeen's business base in numbers
ONS UK Business Counts put the number of enterprises in Aberdeen City at 7,760 in 2026 (Nomis labour market profile: Aberdeen City). 6,575 of them (84.7%) employ fewer than ten people, 905 employ 10 to 49, 215 employ 50 to 249 and 65 employ 250 or more. That is 4.4% of the 176,000 enterprises in Scotland. Counting branches, shops and depots separately, the area has 10,195 local business units.
Measured by employee jobs (2024), the largest parts of the Aberdeen City economy are health and social care (16.5%), professional, scientific and technical services (13.3%), wholesale, retail and motor trades (10.1%) and hotels, restaurants and food service (8.2%). In total the area has 158,000 employee jobs and 230,180 residents (2025).
Small business loans in Aberdeen: what the figures mean
- With 84.7% of Aberdeen enterprises employing fewer than ten people, a typical application is judged on two or three years of accounts, bank statements and the directors' credit files rather than a long trading record.
- Professional, scientific and technical services: 13.3% against 9.3% across Great Britain. Consultancies, design and technical firms tend to borrow unsecured on the strength of their fees.
- Health and social care: 16.5% against 14.2% across Great Britain. Care providers face specialist lender criteria; see care home finance.
For context, Aberdeen City has 7,760 enterprises for 230,180 residents, or 33.7 per 1,000 (our calculation from the ONS figures). Dundee has 3,655 enterprises, 24.6 per 1,000 residents, with 85.1% employing under ten; Edinburgh has 18,635 enterprises, 35.1 per 1,000 residents, with 85.8% employing under ten. Professional, support, digital and finance jobs together are 23.1% of the Aberdeen total, against 13.4% in Dundee and 31.2% in Edinburgh.
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Unsecured business loans in Aberdeen
No security over property is needed for an unsecured loan, which is why most small business loans in Aberdeen take this form. 35 of the 45 unsecured lenders on our panel accept an AB postcode; the other 10 exclude AB or lend only elsewhere. Business Enterprise Fund is one that does not lend here: its Momentum Loan excludes Scottish postcodes. The trade-off is the personal guarantee: our panel data shows one on 102 of the 109 products open here.
| Lender | Amounts | Terms | Indicative rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Momenta Finance | £50k to £500k | Up to 7 years | 6.88% to 11.22% a year |
| Sigma Lending | £10k to £100k | Up to 1 year | 33% to 67% a year |
| Creative Growth Finance | £100k to £500k | Up to 5 years | 10% to 15% a year |
| Little Business Loans | £10k to £20k | Up to 1 year | 30% to 42% a year |
| Allica Bank | £25k to £150k | Up to 5 years | 9.9% to 13.75% a year |
| Oxbury Bank | £25k to £150k | Up to 5 years | 8% a year |
Business loans under Scots law
An Aberdeen company that borrows against its assets signs Scottish documents. Over land and buildings the lender takes a standard security, which Registers of Scotland records in the Land Register; over the business as a whole it usually takes a bond and floating charge, registered at Companies House within 21 days (GOV.UK).
What Aberdeen borrowers do not get is the English enforcement toolkit. There are no LPA receivers in Scotland and a floating charge does not crystallise automatically (The Gazette), so a lender without Scottish solicitors on its books may simply decline. An unsecured loan avoids most of this, which is one reason the unsecured lender count above matters.
For Scotland, the British Business Bank runs the Investment Fund for Scotland, a £150 million fund open to Aberdeen firms. It offers smaller loans of £25,000 to £100,000, debt finance of £100,000 to £2 million and equity of up to £5 million.
Lenders on our panel that cover Aberdeen
Lenders on our panel whose criteria name Scotland include Allica Bank, which lends to limited companies and LLPs in England, Scotland and Wales, Nucleus Commercial Finance, which lends in Scotland up to £250,000 and LendingCrowd, which is based in Edinburgh and lends in England, Scotland and Wales.
Others do not lend to businesses based in AB postcodes, so we leave them out of an Aberdeen search: Cubefunder, Adelpha Capital, Reparo Finance, Kingsway Finance, Nationwide Finance, Finsec, Asset Advantage, Kingsley Asset Finance and Business Enterprise Fund.
That leaves 61 of 70 business loan providers open to Aberdeen.
Free business support in Aberdeen
For free advice before you borrow, Business Gateway is the place to start: free, publicly funded advice for businesses across Scotland, Aberdeen included. It cannot lend to you, but it can point you to grants and local programmes that sit alongside finance.
Finance for Aberdeen's main industries
The industries that employ the most people in Aberdeen, and those that are bigger here than nationally, each have a page explaining how lenders assess them: business services finance, care home finance, retail business loans and hospitality business loans.
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Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these, checked on 18 October 2026. Lender coverage is from the criteria held for each lender on our panel.
We are a credit broker, not a lender. Fees depend on the lender, and there is nothing to pay upfront. This page is general information, not financial advice. Lenders set their own criteria, rates and terms, and all finance is subject to status.
Common questions
Do all lenders offer business loans to Aberdeen businesses?
No. 9 of the 70 business loan providers in our panel data exclude AB postcodes, so a direct application to one of them would be declined on location alone. We only approach lenders that lend at your postcode.
Which sectors are bigger in Aberdeen than nationally?
Professional, scientific and technical services (1.43 times the Great Britain share) and Health and social care (1.16 times the Great Britain share), on ONS employee jobs for Aberdeen City.
Do you have an office in Aberdeen?
No. Smart Funding Solutions is based in Chester and works with Aberdeen businesses by phone, video and email; lenders do not need you to be local to us.
What our clients say
“Simon was fast, kept us updated at all stages and was a real pleasure to work with on our asset finance. I highly recommend this company: excellent service all round.”
“Spoke with Simon, who managed to get me the loan I needed promptly. The whole process was very smooth and was completed within a few days.”
“Getting a business loan can feel like a bit of a minefield, but everything was broken down for me in great detail. Will use again in the future!”
“Simon was a pleasure to deal with and helped us find a business loan that matched our growth goals and future expansion plans.”
“I couldn’t source funding for my business, but the team got in touch within an hour and had it sorted within 24 hours. Fantastic service, and I would definitely use them again.”
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Trusted by UK businesses across every sector.
“Simon was fast, kept us updated at all stages and was a real pleasure to work with on our asset finance. I highly recommend this company: excellent service all round.”
“Spoke with Simon, who managed to get me the loan I needed promptly. The whole process was very smooth and was completed within a few days.”
“Getting a business loan can feel like a bit of a minefield, but everything was broken down for me in great detail. Will use again in the future!”
“Simon was a pleasure to deal with and helped us find a business loan that matched our growth goals and future expansion plans.”
“I couldn’t source funding for my business, but the team got in touch within an hour and had it sorted within 24 hours. Fantastic service, and I would definitely use them again.”
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