What are the best alternatives to Shire Leasing?

Why consider alternatives to Shire Leasing?

Shire Leasing has been financing UK business equipment since 1989 from its base in Tamworth, has advanced £1.5 billion to more than 30,000 businesses, and holds a Trustpilot score of 4.8 from 1,800 reviews, the highest of any asset finance provider on the Lendus panel. It is also unusual in structure. Shire is an independent broker and funder rather than a bank owned balance sheet lender, so it places each deal with the most suitable funder from its panel instead of applying a single set of criteria.

That model is the reason people use it and the reason people leave it. Because Shire can reach specialist funding lines, it will consider businesses with 3 months of trading, no minimum turnover, CCJs and thin credit files. But its own record notes that the end funder’s terms may vary from the initial indicative rates, so a business that expected the bottom of the 5% to 25% per annum band can end up nearer the top. The other two triggers are simpler. The £1 million maximum is low for anything heavier than IT, office equipment and soft assets. And a business that has strengthened since its first lease often finds it can now go direct to a bank at 4% to 15% instead.

The six lenders below all fund from their own balance sheet. Each one beats Shire on a specific measure, and each one asks for more trading history in return. That trade is the whole decision.

Top Shire Leasing alternatives

1. Lombard, Best for large deals and the lowest published rate

Lombard has been lending since 1861, has advanced £30 billion and has financed assets for more than 500,000 businesses. It lends £3,000 to £50 million at 4% to 15% per annum with an 8.5% representative APR, which is both the lowest published band and by far the highest ceiling in this comparison. Part of NatWest Group, it is the natural next step for a business that has outgrown small ticket leasing.

Rates and amounts: 4% to 15% per annum; 8.5% APR representative; £3,000 to £50 million.

Eligibility: 24 months or more trading; £100,000 minimum turnover; good to excellent credit preferred; full financials for larger deals.

Pros: 50 times Shire’s maximum deal size; lowest published rate ceiling at 15%; a single counterparty from quote to documentation; strong on vehicles, plant and machinery.

Cons: Decisions take 2 to 5 working days against Shire’s same day; two years of trading and £100,000 turnover rule out young businesses; not built for small or fast deals.

Best for: Established businesses buying plant, machinery or a vehicle fleet where the deal is too big for a £1 million ceiling and the credit profile is strong enough to earn the rate.

2. Novuna Business Finance, Best for small tickets with a published APR

Novuna Business Finance, the trading name of Mitsubishi HC Capital UK PLC, matches Shire’s £1,000 entry point but publishes an 8.9% representative APR and a 4% to 18% per annum band. It has lent £8 billion and financed more than 200,000 businesses, and it is often the embedded finance provider behind a dealer or manufacturer, so the paperwork can be handled at the point of purchase.

Rates and amounts: 4% to 18% per annum; 8.9% APR representative; £1,000 to £5 million.

Eligibility: 3 years or more trading; £50,000 turnover for smaller ticket deals, £250,000 for larger facilities; good credit required for standard products.

Pros: Same £1,000 floor as Shire with a published representative APR; same day decisions on standard deals up to £100,000; £5 million ceiling; embedded at dealers and manufacturers.

Cons: 3 years trading is the strictest requirement in this comparison; adverse credit is explicitly not the target; Trustpilot score of 3.7 from 1,100 reviews is the lowest of the lenders here.

Best for: Businesses with three years of clean accounts buying a standard asset through a dealer, who want a published rate rather than a placed one.

3. Aldermore Bank, Best all round balance of speed, size and criteria

Aldermore lends £2,000 to £10 million across asset finance, invoice finance, commercial mortgages and business loans, at 4.5% to 20% per annum with a 9.3% representative APR. It gives same day decisions on asset finance up to £250,000, which is a quarter of Shire’s entire maximum deal size decided in a day, and it takes businesses from 12 months of trading.

Rates and amounts: 4.5% to 20% per annum; 9.3% APR representative; £2,000 to £10 million.

Eligibility: 12 months or more trading for most products; £100,000 turnover for most products, with lower thresholds on some asset finance; fair to good credit.

Pros: Same day decisions up to £250,000; 12 month trading requirement is the second lowest here; £10 million ceiling; £14 billion lent and a Trustpilot score of 4.6 from 3,800 reviews.

Cons: 20% published ceiling rate is high for a bank; not a specialist adverse credit lender; larger deals take 3 to 5 days.

Best for: Businesses a year or more into trading that want bank terms and a same day answer without dropping to a specialist funder panel.

4. Close Brothers, Best for mid market facilities

Close Brothers has been lending since 1878, has advanced £10 billion and serves more than 100,000 businesses. It lends £10,000 to £5 million at 5% to 18% per annum with a 9.9% representative APR, and combines asset finance with invoice finance and business loans, which suits a business funding equipment and working capital at the same time.

Rates and amounts: 5% to 18% per annum; 9.9% APR representative; £10,000 to £5 million.

Eligibility: 24 months or more trading; £250,000 minimum turnover; good credit required; full financial accounts typically required.

Pros: Deep sector knowledge; asset, invoice and loan facilities from one regulated bank; £5 million ceiling; published rate band capped at 18%.

Cons: £250,000 turnover requirement is the highest here; decisions take 3 to 5 working days; £10,000 minimum rules out the small soft asset deals Shire specialises in; Trustpilot score of 3.5 from 500 reviews.

Best for: Mid market businesses with £250,000 or more of turnover that need equipment and working capital handled by one lender.

5. Nucleus Commercial Finance, Best for younger businesses that want one lender for everything

Nucleus is the closest thing here to Shire’s flexibility on trading history. It lends from 6 months of trading with £50,000 turnover, considers adverse credit, decides within 24 hours, and offers both asset finance and unsecured business loans from £3,000 to £2 million. The cost of that flexibility is the pricing structure.

Rates and amounts: 1.5% to 5% per month; 36% APR representative; £3,000 to £2 million. This is a monthly rate and cannot be compared directly against an annual one.

Eligibility: 6 months or more trading; £50,000 minimum turnover; adverse credit considered; directors’ personal guarantee usually required.

Pros: Lowest trading history requirement of the direct lenders here; decisions within 24 hours; asset finance and unsecured lending from one lender; Trustpilot score of 4.6 from 900 reviews.

Cons: Priced per month at 1.5% to 5%, with a 36% representative APR, so materially more expensive than the annual rate lenders; personal guarantee usually required; not a self serve digital application.

Best for: Businesses trading 6 to 24 months that need equipment now and cannot wait to build the accounts history that Lombard, Close Brothers or Novuna require.

6. White Oak UK, Best for the fastest decision

White Oak UK, trading name of LDF Operations Limited, has been lending since 1986 from Chester and states an average loan decision turnaround of around 4 hours, faster than Shire’s same day standard. It lends £5,000 to £500,000 across asset finance, term loans and invoice finance, with an average loan size of around £60,000.

Rates and amounts: No public rate card; pricing quoted per deal. Average loan size around £60,000; £5,000 to £500,000.

Eligibility: Not publicly stated; assessed per application on the business’s financials, the asset or invoice book, and deal structure.

Pros: Average decision of around 4 hours; asset finance, term lending and invoice factoring from one institutionally backed lender; no minimum turnover published.

Cons: No published rate card or representative APR, so you cannot compare cost before applying; £500,000 ceiling is half Shire’s; the trading name and the regulated entity name do not match, and its own site states that where White Oak UK acts as lender the product may not be FCA regulated.

Best for: Businesses that need a decision inside a working day and are getting a second quote to price the offer against.

Comparison table

Nucleus quotes a monthly rate. Every other rate band in this table is annual. The two are not interchangeable.

How to choose the right alternative

Choose Lombard if the deal is bigger than £1 million or you have two years of clean trading and want the lowest published band on the panel.

Choose Novuna Business Finance if you are buying a standard asset through a dealer, have three years of accounts, and want a small ticket lender that publishes a representative APR.

Choose Aldermore Bank if you are 12 months or more into trading and want a same day bank decision on anything up to £250,000.

Choose Close Brothers if your turnover is £250,000 or more and you want equipment finance and invoice finance from the same regulated bank.

Choose Nucleus Commercial Finance if you have been trading 6 to 24 months, and accept that a monthly rate of 1.5% to 5% is the price of not waiting.

Choose White Oak UK if speed is the deciding factor and you already have a comparison quote in hand.

Stay with Shire Leasing if you have been trading under 6 months, have no meaningful turnover yet, or have adverse credit. Its 3 month threshold with no minimum turnover is the lowest published on the Lendus panel, and no direct lender here matches it. In that situation a placed deal at the higher end of a rate band is usually better than five declines.

Lendus is an introducer, not a lender or a credit broker. Every figure above comes from the lender’s own record on this site. Lendus has not verified Shire Leasing’s regulatory status from a primary source, so check it, and the status of any lender you shortlist, on the FCA Register at register.fca.org.uk before you sign anything.