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Fleximize is a direct lender offering unsecured business loans up to £250,000 and secured loans up to £500,000. To be eligible for a Fleximize loan, you will need a minimum monthly turnover of £5,000.
Since Fleximize offers loans to businesses that have only been trading for six months, it could be an option if you are in the early stages of your growth. And you will be able to repay your loan in full before the term ends for no extra cost. However, how much you can borrow will be limited by your monthly turnover, and you will need to provide a personal guarantee.
Fleximize Business Loan
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Representative APRAvailable on application
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Representative ExampleAvailable on application
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Available amounts£5,000 – £500,000
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Available Terms1 – 4 years
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Key features
- Flexiloan and Flexiloan LiteFleximize has different loan products for more established organisations trading for longer than a year, and newer businesses who have only been trading for six months.
- Borrow up to £500,000With a Fleximize loan, you can borrow a minimum of £5,000 and a maximum of £500,000 (or £250,000 for unsecured loans).
- Short- to medium-term borrowingFleximize offers terms of three to 12 months for its Flexiloan Lite, and 12 to 48 months for its Flexiloan, capped at 36 months for unsecured loans.
- No early repayment feesYou will not be penalised if you want to overpay your loan, or pay it back in full before your term ends.
Fleximize business loans pros & cons
Pros
- With Fleximize, you can borrow between £5,000 and £500,000, with unsecured loans capped at £250,000.
- Fleximize offers short- to medium-term lending, with term lengths of three to 12 months for Flexiloan Lite, and 12 to 48 months for its standard Flexiloan, capped at 36 months for unsecured loans.
- Fleximize offers business loans for newer organisations that have only been trading for six months with its Flexiloan Lite option.
- You can repay your Fleximize business loan early at no extra cost, and you will only pay interest for the time you’ve actually had the loan.
Cons
- Fleximize has limited customer service options, with only an online contact form and phone line. You can visit the company’s HQ, but this is just one location, in Ipswich.
- All Fleximize products, including secured loans, require a personal guarantee from at least one director or shareholder. Secured loans also require an equitable charge, which means the lender may claim equity in a property if the borrower defaults on the loan.
- You can only borrow a maximum of £250,000 on an unsecured Flexiloan or Flexiloan Lite if you are based in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
- Sole trader and non-limited partnership loans start at over £25,000.
- Non-homeowners can borrow a maximum of £20,000, and only as long as the business has been trading for over 36 months.
The pros and cons featured here are chosen by us based on a combination of our expert, research-based opinions and an exclusive survey of UK business owners and decision makers. The survey was conducted on behalf of NerdWallet UK in December 2022 to identify the business loans features that people feel are most important. They are unlikely to be the only product features and restrictions that you should consider. Pros and cons are subjective and you should align them to your own personal and business circumstances. Information was correct at the time of publication but may have changed since.
Fleximize business loans full review
Founded in 2013, Fleximize is a business finance provider offering loans of £5,000 to £500,000.
How much you can borrow is tied to your monthly turnover, starting at a minimum of £5,000. Fleximize lends businesses a maximum of two months’ worth of revenue. So, for example, if your business makes £20,000 a month, your maximum amount borrowable would be £40,000.
While the maximum you can borrow is £500,000, that is only for secured loans taken out by businesses in England and Wales. Unsecured loans are capped at £250,000.
However, if you are not a homeowner, you will only be able to borrow a maximum of £20,000, as long as you have been trading for longer than 36 months.
And if you are a sole trader, or non-limited partnership, borrowing starts at over £25,000, not £5,000.
Fleximize offers two main products:
- Flexiloan: This is for businesses that have been trading longer than 12 months, and therefore comes with lower monthly interest rates than the Flexiloan Lite. You can borrow over 12 to 36 months with an unsecured loan, and up to 48 months with a secured loan.
- Flexiloan Lite: This is for businesses that have been trading for between six and 12 months, and therefore comes with a higher interest rate than the Flexiloan. The Flexiloan Lite is a shorter-term loan, over three to 12 months for both unsecured and secured options.
With both products there are no early repayment fees, the option for repayment holidays, and the ability to ‘top up’ your loan. And if you apply directly through Fleximize, there are no set-up or arrangement fees either. Returning customers, meanwhile, may be eligible for reduced interest rates, or £100 cashback.
But you will be asked to provide a personal guarantee, stating that you will pay the loan if your business cannot, regardless of whether you take out an unsecured or secured loan.
Fleximize business loans: at a glance
| Amount borrowable | £5,000 to £500,000 (maximum of £250,000 unsecured) |
| Term length | 12 to 48 months (Flexiloan) Three to 12 months (Flexiloan Lite) |
| Web-based customer service | Online contact form |
| UK customer service number | 020 7100 0110 (8.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday) |
| App | No |
| Face-to-face customer service | Yes (HQ in Ipswich) |
| Access to loans without pre-existing account | Yes |
Where Fleximize business loans stands out
Maximum amount borrowable: Eligible businesses can borrow a maximum of £500,000 with a secured loan from Fleximize. Its unsecured loans, meanwhile, are capped at £250,000, which is higher than many other providers. However, how much you can borrow is tied to your monthly turnover.
No early repayment fees: You will not be charged a fee if you want to repay your Fleximize loan in full early, nor if you want to make regular overpayments. This means you can save on interest charges if you can afford to repay the loan before the end of the term, making the overall cost of borrowing cheaper.
No set-up fees: If you apply for a Fleximize loan directly through the lender, you will not be charged any set-up, arrangement or application fees.
Available for newer businesses: Early-stage businesses that have been trading for at least six months can access unsecured loans up to £250,000, and secured loans up to £500,000, through Fleximize.
Customer reviews: At the time of writing Fleximize has an ‘Excellent’ Trustpilot rating of 4.9 out of 5, suggesting that customers are satisfied with the product. However, this is from a relatively small sample of 814 reviews.
No need to create a new business account: Since Fleximize is not a banking provider, you will not be required to open a new business account to access a loan.
Membership perks: Any business owner can sign up for free to Fleximize’s ‘Member Marketplace’ and access exclusive discounts on certain business products and services. However, when you take out a loan with Fleximize, you will become a gold member and gain access to further discounts.
Where Fleximize business loans fall short
Eligibility requirements: While you can borrow up to £250,000 unsecured and £500,000 secured, there are a range of eligibility requirements when borrowing through Fleximize that will limit the minimum and maximum loan you can access. On top of your monthly turnover, which determines how much you can borrow, further limits are applied if you do not own a home or if you are a sole trader or partnership.
Regional restrictions: Only businesses in England and Wales can access the full £500,000 secured loan. Businesses in Scotland and Northern Ireland can only access unsecured loans of up to £250,000.
Personal guarantees: Regardless of whether you are applying for an unsecured or secured loan, Fleximize will require you to provide a personal guarantee. This means if your business is unable to repay the loan, it will become your personal responsibility to do so.
Limited customer service options: You can only contact Flemize through an online form, over the phone, or at its headquarters in Ipswich.
FCA regulation: Fleximize only offers unregulated products, and is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Fleximize business loans customer reviews
Fleximize has an ‘Excellent’ Trustpilot rating of 4.9 out of 5, based on 814 reviews.
This information is correct as of 15 September 2023.
Fleximize business loans eligibility
To meet the minimum lending criteria for a Fleximize business loan, you must:
- be based in the UK
- have been trading for at least six months
- have a minimum monthly turnover of £5,000
Further eligibility criteria apply as follows:
- Sole traders and non-limited partnerships with fewer than four partners can start borrowing from over £25,000, not £5,000.
- Non-homeowners can borrow a maximum of £20,000, and only if they have been trading for longer than 36 months.
- Businesses in Scotland and Northern Ireland can only apply for unsecured loans, to a maximum of £250,000.
You will also need to supply a personal guarantee, and pass Fleximize’s credit checks.
How to apply for a Fleximize business loan
When applying for a Fleximize business loan, you will likely need to complete the following steps:
- Prepare your documents. This will include three months of business bank statements, your most recent set of management accounts, and a month-by-month breakdown of your revenue performance across the last year (or six months for the Flexiloan Lite option).
- Fill out an online application form, which Fleximize claims should take less than five minutes.
- Fleximize will allocate you a dedicated relationship manager to take you through the final stages of your application.
- You should receive confirmation of whether your loan has been approved within 24 hours.
- If approved, you may also be able to receive your funds within 24 hours.
» MORE: How to get a business loan
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