https://soloncorporate.com/insights Solon Corporate Finance publishes practitioner analysis of the UK lower-mid-market debt market, written for corporate borrowers arranging facilities of £3–15m. en-gb Sat, 11 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-refi-wall-counted https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-refi-wall-counted Sat, 11 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Counted from the public charge register, not forecast: 14,675 of 83,957 scored UK lower-mid-market companies are inside an estimated refinancing window now. The wall is a 2020–24 vintage story. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-cost-of-credit-six-year-arc-2026 https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-cost-of-credit-six-year-arc-2026 Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Credit went from its cheapest in a generation in 2021 to its most expensive in 2023, then eased. The lesson is to structure for the path, not the level. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/growth-and-capex-finance-2026 https://soloncorporate.com/insights/growth-and-capex-finance-2026 Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT SME equity investment fell 20% to £7bn in Q1–Q3 2025, while private-credit deployment hit $593bn. For a cash-generative lower-mid-market company, the debt case has rarely been stronger. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-quarter-in-debt-mid-2026-state-of-the-market https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-quarter-in-debt-mid-2026-state-of-the-market Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Private-debt deal flow near record, Bank Rate down to 3.75%, CFO risk appetite near series lows. Why supply and sentiment are out of phase in mid-2026, and what it means for a borrower. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/challenger-share-plateaus-at-sixty-percent https://soloncorporate.com/insights/challenger-share-plateaus-at-sixty-percent Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Challengers held 60% of UK gross SME bank lending in 2025 for the second year running, with big-five gross lending at a near-record low. What the plateau means for a borrowing CFO. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/unitranche-deals-are-back-2025-annual https://soloncorporate.com/insights/unitranche-deals-are-back-2025-annual Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT European mid-cap unitranche hit 570 deals in 2025, the strongest year since 2021's record. The UK led the year-end surge at +60% QoQ, and debt funds held 71% of UK mid-cap financings for the full year. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/private-credit-three-and-a-half-trillion-deal-note https://soloncorporate.com/insights/private-credit-three-and-a-half-trillion-deal-note Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Global private credit hit $3.5tn AUM with ~$1tn dry powder. What that scale means for a UK company raising £3–15m: more lenders competing harder for the right credit. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/growth-guarantee-scheme-refinancing-covid-debt https://soloncorporate.com/insights/growth-guarantee-scheme-refinancing-covid-debt Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT GGS is extended to 2030 but is not automatically right for a maturing CBILS borrower. The guarantee is designed for the marginal credit; stronger credits have access to the broad commercial market. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-quarter-in-debt-2025-tariff-shock https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-quarter-in-debt-2025-tariff-shock Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT CFO credit-availability sentiment swung from +34% to -49% in one quarter, the sharpest break since 2022. Why the deal market held up and what it means for a borrower reading the headlines. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/asset-finance-and-abl-the-quiet-workhorse https://soloncorporate.com/insights/asset-finance-and-abl-the-quiet-workhorse Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT SME asset finance new business reached £23.5bn in 2024, up from £16bn in 2020, with non-bank lenders supplying over a third of the market. ABL and asset finance deserve a place in every lower-mid-market CFO's funding toolkit. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-bank-retreat https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-bank-retreat Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Challenger and specialist banks now supply about 60% of new bank lending to smaller UK businesses, passing the big-five banks in 2021. What the shift means for a borrowing CFO. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/search-fund-and-independent-sponsor-debt https://soloncorporate.com/insights/search-fund-and-independent-sponsor-debt Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Independent sponsors win debt on the credit and the operator, not a fund brand. How the lender market approaches sponsorless deals, and what an independent buyer needs to show. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/covenants-leverage-pricing-in-a-higher-rate-world https://soloncorporate.com/insights/covenants-leverage-pricing-in-a-higher-rate-world Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Bank Rate peaked at 5.25% and settled near 4.75% into early 2025. The binding covenant in that world is interest cover, not leverage. What that means for sizing and structure. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-quarter-in-debt-2024-annual-review https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-quarter-in-debt-2024-annual-review Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Private-debt deals recovered to 702 in the year to Autumn 2024, debt funds held 77% of UK mid-cap flow, and M&A-led activity returned. What the 2024 recovery means for a £3–15m borrower planning in 2025. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/covid-loan-repayment-where-the-book-stands-2024 https://soloncorporate.com/insights/covid-loan-repayment-where-the-book-stands-2024 Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Heading into 2025, CBILS repayment is well advanced but over half of Bounce Back loans remain on schedule to hit final maturity in 2026. What the repayment curves mean for a borrower still carrying Covid debt. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/acquisition-finance-for-the-lower-mid-market https://soloncorporate.com/insights/acquisition-finance-for-the-lower-mid-market Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Roughly two-thirds of European private-debt deals fund an acquisition. Why a first-time buyer should arrange a committed acquisition line and accordion headroom up front, not deal-by-deal. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/refinancing-from-strength-not-necessity https://soloncorporate.com/insights/refinancing-from-strength-not-necessity Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT UK corporate net debt-to-earnings near a twenty-year low as 2026 maturities approach. Why most lower-mid-market borrowers hold more leverage than they think going into renewal. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-quarter-in-debt-2024-recovery-confirmed https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-quarter-in-debt-2024-recovery-confirmed Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT After a 2023 trough, UK private-debt deal flow has recovered: Q1 2024 UK mid-cap deals rose ~18% YoY, debt funds held 77% of UK activity. What the recovery means for a borrower at the £3–15m level. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-2026-maturity-wall-starts-here https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-2026-maturity-wall-starts-here Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT The 2020-vintage Covid loans mature in 2026 and about 30% of UK leveraged-loan debt falls due by end-2025. Why a foreseeable wall is only manageable if you start refinancing 12–18 months out. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/private-credit-passes-one-trillion-what-it-means-for-borrowers https://soloncorporate.com/insights/private-credit-passes-one-trillion-what-it-means-for-borrowers Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Private-credit managers in the ACC survey deployed $333bn in 2022. Why global scale is a borrower's tailwind, and why it only helps if you run a competitive process. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/debt-funds-take-two-thirds-of-uk-mid-market https://soloncorporate.com/insights/debt-funds-take-two-thirds-of-uk-mid-market Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Unitranche, the debt-fund instrument, has held the majority of UK private-debt structures throughout the cycle, and debt funds wrote 62% of UK sponsored unitranche financings in early 2023. A lender process that canvasses only banks is searching a shrinking part of the field. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-quarter-in-debt-2023-trough-and-rebound https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-quarter-in-debt-2023-trough-and-rebound Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT European mid-cap unitranche bottomed at 62 deals in Q2 2023, the lowest of the rate-shock cycle. Why a quiet market is the moment a prepared borrower commands best terms. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/personal-guarantees-what-borrowers-should-know https://soloncorporate.com/insights/personal-guarantees-what-borrowers-should-know Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT A personal guarantee is a negotiable term, not a box to tick. Capping it, time-limiting it, and trading it against pricing keeps personal exposure under control as credit tightens. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-quarter-in-debt-2022-resilience https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-quarter-in-debt-2022-resilience Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Private-debt deals hit 871 in the year to autumn 2022 (+51% on a year earlier) as Deloitte rebranded the tracker. Why direct lenders kept closing through the rate shock while syndicated markets stalled. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-rate-turn-2022-cost-of-credit https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-rate-turn-2022-cost-of-credit Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT In a year Deloitte's net balance on the cost of credit swung more than 100 points into costly territory (an implied costly-share moving from about 14% to 74%), availability fell to a post-Covid low, and Bank Rate reached 2.25%. Why a tightening cycle punishes delay. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/unitranche-vs-senior-plus-mezz-2022 https://soloncorporate.com/insights/unitranche-vs-senior-plus-mezz-2022 Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Unitranche took about 70% of UK alternative-lender structures by late 2021, up from 58% in 2020. Why the single-tranche default is not automatically right below £15m, and how to choose. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-quarter-in-debt-record-run-2021 https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-quarter-in-debt-record-run-2021 Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Private-debt deal flow rebounded to records in 2021: alternative-lender deals back to 578 on the year, European unitranche at a quarterly high, buyout share above 70%. Use the hot market for terms, not just price. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/challengers-cross-the-line-2021 https://soloncorporate.com/insights/challengers-cross-the-line-2021 Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Challenger and specialist banks supplied just 32% of UK gross SME bank lending in 2020, a Covid-scheme artefact. Pre-pandemic they were already above half. Why the high-street bank is now one quote among many. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/what-cfos-think-about-credit-2020-2021 https://soloncorporate.com/insights/what-cfos-think-about-credit-2020-2021 Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT By end-2020 UK CFOs rated credit cheaper and more available every quarter through the pandemic, even as risk appetite stayed deeply negative. Why that gap is a borrower's window. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-quarter-in-debt-covid-trough-2020 https://soloncorporate.com/insights/the-quarter-in-debt-covid-trough-2020 Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Alternative-lender deal flow eased from 484 to 447 in the year to autumn 2020. A dip, not a seizure. Buyout and unitranche shares rose: capital concentrated on quality. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/covid-emergency-lending-what-it-means-for-borrowers https://soloncorporate.com/insights/covid-emergency-lending-what-it-means-for-borrowers Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT CBILS lends up to £5m on terms of up to six years, 80% government-guaranteed, with the first 12 months of interest paid. A loan drawn now is a 2026 refinancing event — plan for it. https://soloncorporate.com/insights/uk-lower-mid-market-debt-2020-state-of-play https://soloncorporate.com/insights/uk-lower-mid-market-debt-2020-state-of-play Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Entering 2020, over half of finance-seeking UK SMEs went beyond the big-five banks and direct lenders had built a 1,937-deal European book. The pre-Covid field of debt options, in numbers.