White Oak UK: products, terms and eligibility

White Oak UK is a UK provider of unsecured business loans. The legal entity named on its site is LDF Operations Limited, company number 02029122. It is based in Chester. It gives its founding year as 1986. It is part of White Oak Global Advisors, LLC (financing affiliate).

White Oak UK says it has more than 35 years of lending experience. LDF Operations Limited, which operates the site, was incorporated in 1986 and was previously named Leasedirect Finance Limited (Companies House). It says White Oak Global Advisors acquired the UK lender LDF Group in June 2018, and LDF has since been incorporated into White Oak UK. It says White Oak Global Advisors, founded in 2007, is a US SEC-registered investment adviser and private credit firm, and gives White Oak UK access to investor capital alongside funding from banks and other financial institutions. Its head office is in Chester, with further offices in London and Glasgow.

In its own words on scale:

• Says over 50,000 businesses have used it (figure on its about page in October 2026).
• Says it approves £500m+ of applications annually.
• Says its average loan size is £60k.

Everything on this page comes from what White Oak UK publishes itself. We show the date we last checked it, and we do not rate or rank lenders.

White Oak UK publishes 5 products for UK businesses. The table above gives the amounts and terms as it states them.

• Commercial loan: Repayments tailored to the business.
• Working capital loan: Not published (interest-only option available).
• VAT and tax loans: Fixed payments.
• Asset finance (hire purchase, finance lease, refinance): Fixed repayments.
• Invoice finance: Advances against invoices; see product details.

Commercial loan

Secured and unsecured loans of £25k to £2m over 12 to 48 months for UK SMEs and mid-sized companies, for purposes including tax and VAT, insurance premiums, recruitment, acquisitions, partner buy-ins and buy-outs, refurbishment and IT. It says it may release more funds during the term once part of the loan is repaid with a good payment history.

VAT and tax loans

Loans of £2k to £500k to spread VAT, corporation tax, income tax and insurance bills, with fixed payments over 3 to 12 months (VAT) or 3 months to 5 years (tax). Funds usually go to your account but can be paid directly to HMRC.

Asset finance

Hire purchase, finance lease and asset refinance (sale and hire purchase back, or sale and lease back) for machinery, vehicles and IT equipment, from £5k to £1.5M over 12 to 60 months, with VAT deferral available and a minimum 10% deposit.

Invoice finance

Confidential or disclosed invoice discounting facilities of £250,000 to £10,000,000, advancing up to 90% of invoice value, which can be blended with loans secured on plant and machinery, inventory or property.

Asset based lending

For larger businesses with turnover of £10m to £250m: facilities of £5m to £50m against receivables, inventory, equipment and property, with advance rates up to 95%.

White Oak UK says its finance is used for:

• Corporation tax, income tax and VAT payments
• Professional indemnity and other insurance premiums
• Recruitment and payroll
• Business acquisitions and partner buy-ins or buy-outs
• Equipment, vehicles and machinery
• Refurbishment, IT and software licences

Sectors and business types it says it funds:

• Professional practices such as solicitors
• Construction
• Manufacturing
• Logistics
• Wholesale

White Oak UK publishes these criteria. Meeting them does not mean an application will be accepted: every lender makes its own decision.

• Trading for 3 years or longer.
• Track record of profitability (loans).
• Turnover between £200,000 and £45M for commercial loans.
• Limited companies, LLPs, sole traders and partnerships can apply for commercial loans.
• Invoice finance: limited company with turnover of £1,000,000 upwards and proven financial and reporting systems.
• Asset finance: assets used for business purposes and a minimum deposit.
• Asset based lending: turnover between £10m and £250m.

White Oak UK describes its process like this:

1. Check eligibility online, which it says does not affect your credit score.
2. Apply online or speak to its UK-based team.
3. Receive a proposal and decision from the lending team.
4. If accepted, funds are paid to your account or, for tax loans, directly to HMRC if you ask.
5. Intermediaries can submit cases through its broker portal.

Every application is subject to status and the lender’s own criteria at the time.

An unsecured business loan is a fixed sum repaid in instalments over an agreed term, without a charge over a specific asset. Most lenders still ask the directors for a personal guarantee, which makes them personally liable if the company cannot repay.

Lenders price each loan on the business’s trading history, turnover and credit profile, so the offer you receive can differ from the published range. Compare the total cost in pounds and the repayment pattern, not only the headline rate: our guide on how to compare business loan lenders shows how.

Our guide to unsecured business loans explains the costs, who it suits and how to compare offers.

Points White Oak UK publishes that are worth knowing:

• Its regulatory wording says White Oak UK acts both as a credit broker working with a panel of lenders and as a lender.
• Its footer says that where White Oak UK is the lender, the product will not be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
• Personal guarantees are typically required for loans to limited companies, and debentures may be requested on larger deals.
• Asset finance carries an annual service fee, according to the product page.
• Its FAQ says applying for finance is recorded on your credit file, but you can check eligibility without affecting your credit score.

Security and guarantees

Personal guarantees are typically required for loans to limited companies. Debentures may be requested depending on the size of the transaction. Security may be taken over property, stock, equipment or vehicles, which can limit selling those assets without consent. Asset finance is secured on the financed asset.

The pages we checked do not carry a clear regulatory statement, so we describe none. Ask White Oak UK how it is regulated.

You can check any firm’s permissions on the FCA’s Financial Services Register, listed in the sources below, before you sign anything.

Protections differ by borrower type and loan size. Most lending to limited companies is not regulated consumer credit, so read the agreement and ask the lender what applies to you.

Other providers of unsecured business loans with profiles here include iwoca, Nucleus Commercial Finance and Bizcap. Each profile uses that lender’s own published terms.

The full list, grouped by product type, is in our directory of UK business lenders.

Capzy is a credit broker, not a lender, and gets paid by the lender. One application lets your business compare options across lenders, so you can weigh this kind of facility against the alternatives. You can check your funding options with a soft search that does not affect your credit score. A full application to a lender may involve a hard search, and any offer is subject to status and lender criteria.