Insights
Practical, jargon-free guides to business finance — so you can make confident decisions before you speak to a specialist.
Guides & advice
Straight answers on business finance
39 guides across our 8 service areas — from cutting card fees to choosing the right funding. Browse by category below.
Merchant Services
EPOS vs standalone card terminals: which is right?
A plain-English comparison of EPOS systems and standalone card terminals for UK businesses — the pros and cons, when integration…
Read Merchant ServicesHow to choose the right card terminal
Countertop, portable, mobile or online — a plain-English guide to choosing the right card terminal for how your UK business…
Read Merchant ServicesHow to reduce card processing fees
Understand what makes up your card processing fees — interchange, scheme fees and acquirer margin — and practical, jargon-free ways…
Read Merchant ServicesHow to switch merchant service providers
A plain-English guide to switching merchant service providers — spotting when you're overpaying, checking your contract, what to…
Read Merchant ServicesPCI compliance explained for small businesses
A plain-English guide to PCI DSS for small UK businesses — what it is, why it matters, SAQ levels, common requirements,…
ReadBusiness Finance
A guide to working capital finance
A plain-English guide to working capital finance — what working capital is, why gaps happen, the main solutions from overdrafts to…
Read Business FinanceBusiness loans vs asset finance: which is right for you?
A plain-English comparison of business loans and asset finance — how they differ on security, cost, ownership, cashflow and tax,…
Read Business FinanceHow to fund business growth
A plain-English guide to funding business growth — how to match finance to the goal, an overview of loans, asset finance, invoice…
Read Business FinanceInvoice finance explained
A plain-English guide to invoice finance — what it is, how factoring and invoice discounting differ, how it frees up cash tied in…
ReadRetail Finance / BNPL
How Buy Now, Pay Later increases basket value
How offering Buy Now, Pay Later at checkout lifts conversion and average order value, reduces basket abandonment, and what to weigh…
Read Retail Finance / BNPLHow to choose a retail finance provider
What to look for when choosing a retail finance provider — product range, acceptance rates, integration, fees, settlement, support…
Read Retail Finance / BNPLInterest-free credit explained
How 0% interest-free credit works, who actually pays for it, how it compares with interest-bearing finance, and when it makes sense…
Read Retail Finance / BNPLRetail finance onboarding: what to expect
The steps to go live with retail finance — application, compliance checks, integration, staff training and marketing — plus typical…
Read Retail Finance / BNPLThe benefits of offering customer finance
Why offering customer finance can lift conversion and order value, improve loyalty and support cashflow — plus what to weigh up…
ReadForeign Exchange
A guide to currency risk management
A plain-English guide to currency risk management for UK businesses: the types of FX risk, the tools to manage them, and how to…
Read Foreign ExchangeForward contracts explained
A plain-English guide to forward contracts: how fixing an exchange rate for a future date protects your margins from currency…
Read Foreign ExchangeHow to reduce your business FX costs
Most of the cost of international payments hides in the exchange-rate margin, not the transfer fee. A plain-English guide to…
Read Foreign ExchangeSpot vs forward contracts: what's the difference?
Spot vs forward contracts explained in plain English: paying now at today's rate versus fixing a future rate, when to use each, and…
Read Foreign ExchangeTen tips for cheaper international payments
Ten practical, plain-English tips for cutting the cost of international business payments — from checking the rate margin, not just…
ReadPrepaid Cards
A guide to corporate expense cards
How prepaid corporate expense cards give you control over staff spend, real-time visibility and less month-end admin — and what to…
Read Prepaid CardsDigital wallets for business, explained
What digital wallets are, how to add prepaid and corporate cards to Apple Pay and Google Pay, the benefits for field and remote…
Read Prepaid CardsHow to control employee spending
Practical ways to control employee spending — setting budgets and limits, real-time visibility, approvals, cutting expense admin,…
Read Prepaid CardsUsing prepaid cards for reward & incentive programmes
How prepaid gift and reward cards power staff and customer incentives — with instant issuance, branding, tracking and a note on the…
Read Prepaid CardsVirtual cards explained
What a virtual card is, how single-use and recurring cards work, and how they help you control online spend, manage subscriptions…
ReadMortgages
Bridging finance explained
A plain-English guide to bridging finance in the UK — what a bridging loan is, common uses like chain breaks and auctions, open vs…
Read MortgagesBuy-to-let mortgages: a beginner's guide
A plain-English beginner's guide to buy-to-let mortgages in the UK — how they differ from residential loans, rental cover and…
Read MortgagesMortgages for the self-employed
A plain-English guide to getting a mortgage when you are self-employed in the UK — how lenders assess your income, the accounts and…
Read MortgagesRemortgaging explained
A plain-English guide to remortgaging in the UK — what it is, common reasons to remortgage, when to start, the costs and fees…
Read MortgagesThe commercial mortgage guide for UK businesses
A plain-English guide to commercial mortgages for UK businesses — owner-occupier vs investment, what lenders look at, deposits and…
ReadIT Services
A small business guide to cloud migration
A plain-English guide to cloud migration for UK small businesses — what moving to the cloud really means, the benefits, how to plan…
Read IT ServicesBusiness continuity planning for small businesses
A plain-English guide to business continuity planning for UK small businesses — what a continuity plan is, how to assess risk, the…
Read IT ServicesHow to build a business backup strategy
A plain-English guide to building a business backup strategy — the 3-2-1 rule, what to back up (including Microsoft 365), testing…
Read IT ServicesTen Microsoft 365 tips for small businesses
Ten practical Microsoft 365 tips for UK small businesses — getting more from Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive, tightening security…
Read IT ServicesThe small business cyber security checklist
A practical, numbered cyber security checklist for UK small businesses — passwords, MFA, phishing awareness, updates, backups,…
ReadCompliance & Governance
A practical guide to risk management
A plain-English guide to managing business risk — how to identify what could go wrong, build a simple risk register, weigh…
Read Compliance & GovernanceBuilding a compliance culture
How to build a culture where doing things properly is normal — tone from the top, making the right thing the easy thing, training…
Read Compliance & GovernanceBusiness governance explained
A plain-English guide to governance for smaller UK businesses — what it actually means, who is responsible for what, how decisions…
Read Compliance & GovernanceHow to prepare for a compliance audit
A practical guide to preparing for a compliance audit — what auditors actually look for, how to gather evidence, the gaps that…
Read Compliance & GovernanceWriting policies people actually follow
How to write business policies that guide behaviour instead of gathering dust — plain English, clear ownership, version control,…
ReadReady when you are
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