How we review lenders
Every lender review on BestBusinessLoans is built from the same six-criterion framework, scored on a consistent 1-to-5 scale, and weighted by what actually matters to UK SMB borrowers. Our reviews are desk research: we read each lender's published rate sheets and product terms, check the FCA and PRA registers and Companies House, and score borrower-reported experience from Trustpilot and other public review data. This page is the long version. It is updated whenever we change weights or add a criterion.
The six criteria
- Rate transparency. Does the lender publish a rate range with disclosed criteria, or hide behind a "from X%" headline? We record the published rate band and the criteria a borrower has to meet to reach the headline rate.
- Eligibility clarity. Are minimum trading time, minimum turnover, accepted entity types and personal-guarantee requirements documented up front, or only revealed after a soft search?
- Decision speed. From application to a usable yes/no, in business days. Measured against the lender's own stated turnaround and against borrower-reported reality on review platforms.
- Soft-search behaviour. Does the quote stage leave a footprint on the borrower's credit file? We record what the lender documents about its quote-stage search, and flag where a hard search applies before approval.
- Decline handling. What happens when an applicant is declined: a generic email, a reason code, a referral to alternatives, or nothing? Lenders that document decline reasons score higher.
- Customer track record. Trustpilot, Google reviews, FCA complaints data, and applicant reports on Reddit and trade forums. We weight recent reviews higher than legacy and discount obvious review-farming.
How we weight them
Weights vary by listicle topic. For "best for sole traders" we weight eligibility clarity highest. For "best for fast cash" we weight decision speed highest. For "best after a decline" we weight decline handling and bad-credit acceptance. The weights for any given listicle are published at the foot of that listicle so the reader can see what drove the ranking.
What we measure with
- The lender's own published product sheets and rate tables.
- FCA Register entries (FRN, permissions, consumer-credit status).
- PRA register entries for deposit-taking banks, via the Bank of England.
- Companies House filings (capitalisation, accounts, director history).
- Trustpilot reviews scored over the last 12 months.
- FCA complaints data where the lender is regulated, published on the FCA site.
When we refresh a review
We re-check an active lender when one of the following triggers fires, and move the "Last reviewed" date when we do:
- The lender publishes a change to product, rate or eligibility.
- A material change in regulatory status (FCA permission gained, varied or withdrawn).
- A flow of complaints or a Trustpilot rating drop of 0.4 or more in 90 days.
- Bank of England base rate moves enough to make rate-range comparisons stale.
Conflict checks
Before a review is published, the author confirms there has been no commercial conversation about the verdict, that no payment or in-kind benefit was offered or accepted, and that the methodology weights for the listicle the review feeds were set before the lender pool was scored. The conflict check is logged and reviewed in the annual editorial audit.
Methodology changes
When we change a weight, add a criterion or retire one, we say so on this page and date the change. We do not retro-edit live listicles silently; instead, the next refresh applies the new methodology and the change is noted in the listicle footer.
Last reviewed: 26 April 2026. Methodology version 1.0.