Micro-breweries sit at the intersection of manufacturing, hospitality and retail, which means cashflow rarely flows evenly. Whether you are buying a new fermenter, fronting a large grain purchase before harvest, or bridging the gap between brewing and invoice settlement, short-term business finance can smooth the cycle.
What costs do micro-breweries typically finance?
- Brewing vessels, bright tanks and kegging lines
- Raw material purchases — hops, malt, yeast — ahead of a busy quarter
- Licensing, HMRC duty deposits and compliance spend
- Taproom fit-outs or refrigeration upgrades
- Label design, packaging runs and distributor stock builds
Which Creditcorp product fits a brewery?
A Creditcorp Business Loan suits one-off capital items: a fixed sum repaid over a short fixed term, so you know exactly what you owe each week. If your need is more cyclical — buying grain in bulk one month, then quiet the next — Creditcorp Flex (a revolving credit facility) lets you draw, repay and redraw against a standing limit, paying only on what you use. For a single large supplier invoice, Creditcorp Slice spreads the cost over three or four weekly instalments for a flat 6% fee.
Things to consider before applying
- Duty and excise obligations can create large, predictable outflows — timing a draw against these is straightforward to plan
- Taproom or on-trade revenue is seasonal; factor that into your repayment schedule
- Equipment can have long lead times — apply before you need funds, not after the order is placed
We lend only to UK limited companies and LLPs, and the loan is to the company with no director personal guarantee. As business finance outside the consumer-credit regime, it is not covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service or FSCS.
See also: How can a craft distillery fund production or expansion?, Finance options for UK food manufacturers.