Business loans and finance in Dundee

The waterfront drives the hospitality enquiries. Bars, restaurants and cafes between the V&A and the Perth Road take almost all of their money by card, and their trade rises and falls with events, students and the weather, so an advance repaid as a share of takings fits better than a fixed monthly sum. We ask for three months of terminal statements and, from a seasonal venue, twelve.

Studios are the Dundee enquiry that needs the most care. A games or software firm between releases has a strong pipeline and thin recent income, and a lender reads the income. Where there is contracted work-for-hire the term loan works; where there is not, an asset facility on the hardware or a smaller revolving line is the honest answer, and we say so rather than send a case that will be declined.

The trades are the quiet majority. Construction is Dundee's second largest sector at 515 enterprises, 390 of them specialised trades, and they ask for a van, a digger or the cash to carry a contract until the certificate is paid. Asset finance and invoice finance answer those, and both are products the Scotland filter leaves well covered.

Dundee City had 3,545 VAT or PAYE registered enterprises in March 2025, up from 3,470 in March 2024 (Nomis dataset NM_142_1, read 21 September 2026), a 2% rise against 0.5% for Scotland's registered stock, which the Scottish Government's Businesses in Scotland 2025 put at 175,035 on 3 December 2025. Wholesale and retail leads the city at 620 enterprises, construction follows at 515, then professional, scientific and technical firms at 420 and accommodation and food at 370, of which 345 are food and drink service. Property firms stand at 210 and health at 185. Scotland held 173 thousand businesses on the Nomis basis, 6.3% of the UK, on the ONS release of 24 September 2025.

The Tay Cities Region Deal is the public money with Dundee's name on it. Signed on 17 December 2020 with £150 million from each government, it had drawn down more than £150 million and levered £258 million of other investment while supporting 5,307 jobs, on the Scottish Government's account, against a lifetime target of 6,000 jobs and £400 million. On 23 June 2026 the council welcomed a reshaped programme: £27 million for regional tourism aiming at 320 jobs and a £10 million challenge fund, £5.7 million for HMS Unicorn, £5 million for Discovery Point, and a proposed £15 million for the Livehouse venue to lift its capacity to 3,500, create 150 jobs and, the council says, benefit around 600 local small firms. The council's own Shared Prosperity Fund allocation was £2.44 million for 2025/26, reported on 11 February 2025, with £137,000 of Business Loans Scotland legacy money going into a proof-of-concept fund for life sciences spinouts with the University of Dundee. Eden Project Dundee, on the former gasworks on East Dock Street, was projected by its promoters in March 2022 to bring 500,000 visitors a year, 200 direct jobs and £27 million of annual economic impact. Every one of those is a public route, not a CapExpand one.

For commercial debt, the Investment Fund for Scotland, a £150 million British Business Bank fund launched in October 2023, runs smaller loans of £25,000 to £100,000 through DSL Business Finance, debt of £100,000 to £2 million through The FSE Group and equity to £5 million through Maven, and invested £21.7 million in 2024/25. The Bank's devolved nations briefing found 43% of Scottish smaller businesses using external finance in 2024, down three points, while the volume of loans and overdrafts from the largest lenders rose 29%. The Bank of England's Agents wrote in September 2026 that credit supply “continues to outstrip demand” and that borrowing appetite “is still cautious”, which is the shape of Dundee: lenders willing, firms hesitant, and a shortlist that says who is actually willing for this firm.