Upstream ABL
A Belfast-headquartered asset-based lender covering Northern Ireland, the Republic and Great Britain, funded by a £150m Pollen Street line, lending against assets rather than earnings.
What they do
Upstream ABL provides structured asset-based lending, invoice finance at advances of up to 90 per cent of debtor value, and trade finance to owner-managed businesses across the island of Ireland and Great Britain. It is funded by a £150m facility from Pollen Street Capital rather than by deposits, and credit is run in-house. Deals on record span confectionery, hospitality, manufacturing and regeneration, funding acquisitions, buyouts, refinancings and growth.
Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise
Northern Ireland is underserved by the asset-based market, and a Belfast lender that also writes in the Republic and in Britain matters for a business trading across that border. For an owner-managed company funding a buyout or an acquisition against its receivables and stock, this is a direct route to a decision-maker rather than an approach through a national panel.
Where they are not the fit
No facility floor or ceiling is published and reported deals are described only as multi-million, so capacity at the upper end of a £3–15m raise has to be confirmed rather than assumed. There is no stated private-equity sponsor appetite, and pricing is not disclosed.
Published terms
- Pricing
- Invoice finance advances up to 90% of debtor value; no rate/margin disclosed
- Speed to terms
- Not published
- Sponsored or sponsorless
- Direct-corporate led (SME and mid-corporate owner-managed businesses); no stated sponsor/private equity appetite found. Itself Pollen Street-funded
- Where they lend
- Northern Ireland (Belfast HQ), Republic of Ireland, and Great Britain
- How they decide
- Positions on speed and agility ('fast access to capital'); Turnaround days not published
As published by the lender and last reviewed August 2026. Terms quoted on a deal are set by the credit, not by a published band.
The desks that lend
Upstream ABL lends through 3 separate books. Which one reads a deal decides the security, the covenant package and the band, so the question is rarely whether Upstream ABL lends, but which of these would own it.
Structured asset based lending
- Funds
- Acquisition · Growth · MBO · Refinance
Invoice finance
- Security
- Advance up to 90% of debtor value
- Funds
- Growth · Refinance
Trade finance
- Funds
- Growth
Limits that apply across the firm
Stated limits, taken from Upstream ABL’s own published criteria, beyond the ones each desk carries above. A limit is where a lender starts from, not where it always ends: several of these move on a strong enough credit.
- No appetite in hospitality or renewables
How they sit against the category
- 11 of the 40 publish an indicative price at all; it is one of them.
- It lends through 3 distinct desks, where most firms here run one or two.
Counted across the 40 asset-based & asset-finance lenders in this directory, on what each one publishes. What a lender discloses and what it will do are different things.
Questions this page answers
Does Upstream ABL lend to companies without a private-equity sponsor?
Yes. Upstream ABL lends to owner-managed and corporate borrowers, and publishes no private-equity sponsor proposition.
Where does Upstream ABL lend?
Northern Ireland (Belfast HQ), Republic of Ireland, and Great Britain.
What does Upstream ABL lend?
The published product set is structured asset based lending, invoice finance, trade finance.
On the record
April 2025: Courtney & Nelson (Belfast confectionery wholesaler) structured ABL acquisition financing, multimillion-pound (High — NI Chamber.
2025: Norlin regeneration venues multimillion-pound structured ABL, third major post-MBO deal (High — Insider Media.
March 2026: DÍON Dublin restaurant, multimillion-euro loan facility (High — Hospitality Ireland.
2025: £150m funding facility from Pollen Street Capital post-MBO (High — NI Chamber.
November 2025: Strategic Power Group solar PV/battery storage, multimillion-euro (Med — Newsletter.
Sources: lkcommunications.co.uk
This profile is a curated reference note drawn from public sources, not financial advice or a recommendation. Appetite and terms change; a lender's fit for a given credit is established by approaching it, not inferred from a page.