The market

Fig. 01

The categories of capital, ordered by cost and structural reach.

The categories of capital, ordered along one axis of rising cost of capital and structural reach, from keenest price and narrowest box on the left to highest cost and widest reach on the right.
Order	Category	Where it sits
1 of 5	Clearing & relationship banks	Keenest price, narrowest box
2 of 5	Asset-based & asset-finance	Lends against what you own
3 of 5	Challenger & specialist banks	Underwrites on its own terms
4 of 5	Sponsor & searcher specialists	Backs the operator as much as the asset
5 of 5	Private-credit & direct-lending funds	Flexes around the event and prices for it

How the categories of capital relate on cost and structural reach.

The whole market, mapped.

Banks are no longer the whole of the market. A UK lower-mid-market company can today be funded by clearing and relationship banks, a deep field of challenger and specialist banks, private-credit and direct-lending funds, and asset-based and asset-finance lenders — with a handful within those ranks who will also back sponsors and first-time operators. Each lends to its own appetite, across its own part of the capital structure. Solon maintains a live map of that market and approaches it selectively, so the process tests suitable counterparties for a given deal rather than defaulting to the obvious one.

The categories of capital

Five categories of lender, each with its own appetite and its own part of the structure. How they compare on cost, flexibility, speed and leverage, at a glance.

The categories of capital compared on cost of capital, flexibility, speed to a decision and leverage appetite. Each rating is from 0 to 4. A higher cost-of-capital rating means more expensive, not better; for the other three a higher rating means more of that attribute. This is a trade-off across categories, not a ranking; cost rises with reach.
Category	Cost of capitalfuller = dearer	Flexibility	Speed to a decision	Leverage appetite
Clearing & relationship banksFirst port of call, keenest price	Cost of capital: 1 of 4, where fuller is more expensive	Flexibility: 1 of 4	Speed to a decision: 1 of 4	Leverage appetite: 1 of 4
Asset-based & asset-finance lendersAsset-rich balance sheets	Cost of capital: 2 of 4, where fuller is more expensive	Flexibility: 2 of 4	Speed to a decision: 3 of 4	Leverage appetite: 2 of 4
Challenger & specialist banksWhere a mainstream model declines	Cost of capital: 2 of 4, where fuller is more expensive	Flexibility: 3 of 4	Speed to a decision: 3 of 4	Leverage appetite: 2 of 4
Sponsor & searcher specialistsFirst-time operators, searchers and sponsors	Cost of capital: 4 of 4, where fuller is more expensive	Flexibility: 3 of 4	Speed to a decision: 3 of 4	Leverage appetite: 3 of 4
Private-credit & direct-lending fundsGrowth, acquisitions and recaps that turn on the event	Cost of capital: 4 of 4, where fuller is more expensive	Flexibility: 4 of 4	Speed to a decision: 4 of 4	Leverage appetite: 4 of 4

Clearing & relationship banks

First port of call, keenest price

Cost of capitalfuller = dearer: Cost of capital: 1 of 4, where fuller is more expensive
Flexibility: Flexibility: 1 of 4
Speed to a decision: Speed to a decision: 1 of 4
Leverage appetite: Leverage appetite: 1 of 4

Asset-based & asset-finance lenders

Asset-rich balance sheets

Cost of capitalfuller = dearer: Cost of capital: 2 of 4, where fuller is more expensive
Flexibility: Flexibility: 2 of 4
Speed to a decision: Speed to a decision: 3 of 4
Leverage appetite: Leverage appetite: 2 of 4

Challenger & specialist banks

Where a mainstream model declines

Cost of capitalfuller = dearer: Cost of capital: 2 of 4, where fuller is more expensive
Flexibility: Flexibility: 3 of 4
Speed to a decision: Speed to a decision: 3 of 4
Leverage appetite: Leverage appetite: 2 of 4

Sponsor & searcher specialists

First-time operators, searchers and sponsors

Cost of capitalfuller = dearer: Cost of capital: 4 of 4, where fuller is more expensive
Flexibility: Flexibility: 3 of 4
Speed to a decision: Speed to a decision: 3 of 4
Leverage appetite: Leverage appetite: 3 of 4

Private-credit & direct-lending funds

Growth, acquisitions and recaps that turn on the event

Cost of capitalfuller = dearer: Cost of capital: 4 of 4, where fuller is more expensive
Flexibility: Flexibility: 4 of 4
Speed to a decision: Speed to a decision: 4 of 4
Leverage appetite: Leverage appetite: 4 of 4

Flexibility, speed, leverage: fuller is more.

Cost of capital: fuller is dearer.

Indicative, qualitative ratings of how the categories compare: a trade-off, not a ranking. Cost rises with reach; the right category is the one that fits the deal.

Browse the directory

The directory is a curated reference map, not a ranking. Seven categories, 227 published profiles. Start with the category notes below, then use the individual pages as public-source context before a process is run.

Coverage of the market

Clearing banks

Clearing & relationship banks

12profiled

Asset-based

Asset-based & asset-finance lenders

40profiled

Asset-based lending 16
Invoice finance 11
Asset finance & leasing 13

Challenger & specialist

Challenger & specialist banks

42profiled

Challenger banks 16
Specialist & niche banks 23
Private & merchant banks 3

Platform lenders

Platform & marketplace lenders

5profiled

Regional funds

Regional & government-anchored funds

7profiled

Private credit

Private-credit & direct-lending funds

46profiled

Unitranche & senior direct 29
Mezzanine & special situations 4
Growth & venture debt 13

Property-backed

Property-backed lenders

75profiled

Bridging & development 66
Commercial mortgages 9

Indicative all-in cost rises down the rows ↓

Keenest price, narrowest box at the top; highest cost, widest flexibility at the foot.

227 lenders carry published profiles across these categories, drawn from a deeper working database maintained behind a live process. Which lenders make a shortlist is a per-deal judgment and stays confidential — the right home for a borrower is the cheapest one that can actually do the structure.

Coverage at your size

Categories do not answer a raise; facility sizes do. How many profiled lenders publish a band that reaches a given cheque, counted from what each lender states rather than from what it might stretch to on the day.

For each lender category, the number of profiled lenders whose published facility band covers a facility of £1m, £3m, £5m, £10m, £15m and £25m. A band published from one end only is read as open-ended. Lenders publishing no band are excluded.
Facility size	£1m	£3m	£5m	£10m	£15m	£25m
Clearing banks	2	4	6	6	6	5
Asset-based	24	27	27	21	17	17
Challenger & specialist	27	35	37	32	29	21
Platform lenders	5	5	4	2	1	—
Regional funds	6	7	7	4	3	2
Private credit	8	19	27	29	24	19
Property-backed	64	71	69	56	44	29

The claret rule marks the £3–15m mandate band

£1m and £25m columns shown on a wider screen.

Counted from published facility bands on 198 of the 227 profiles; a lender publishing no band is left out rather than assumed. Bands are what a lender says it will do, not what it will do on a given credit — the same lender can be keen at £4m and indifferent at £12m, and only a process establishes which.

If you lend into this market, set out your appetite

Questions the map answers

Answered from the directory in a paragraph and then as an alphabetical list. All the questions

By deal

By what they lend against

By terms

By sector and place

Every lender we publish

The full published directory, grouped by category and then by the desk inside it. Each page is a reference note on where that lender fits and where it does not, drawn from public sources.

Clearing & relationship banks

12

Clearing & relationship

Asset-based & asset-finance lenders

40

Asset-based lending

Invoice finance

Asset finance & leasing

Growth & venture debt

Property-backed lenders

75

Bridging & development

Commercial mortgages

When you raise or refinance, Solon runs a competitive process across the whole market and identifies the counterparties that fit.