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The contract winners about to need a bond, a facility or cover.

A public contract is paid in arrears, and many buyers ask for a performance bond before the work starts. A company that has just won one larger than its usual work may need working capital to carry the first months, finance for vehicles and plant, and insurance at the contract's own limits. The award is public, with the value and the dates, often before any of that is settled.

Try it with a work emailChoose “Finance, bonds and insurance” when you sign in
Award 2026/0451-L1written for finance, bonds and insurance

Groundworks company wins a contract larger than its turnover

  • Highways improvement works, £3.8m over 18 months.
  • Signed 3 November 2026; works start 1 February 2027.
  • Accounts to June 2025: turnover £2.9m, cash £240k.
  • One charge outstanding, to an asset finance lender, from 2023.

A contract worth more than a year's turnover at a company with a quarter of a million in cash: working capital, a performance bond and finance for plant are all open questions before February.

0113 496 0372enquiries@…Website
What came of it:Spoke to themNo answerNot for usWon business

An invented example of the shape of a card. See a real one, opened.

What puts a card here
A company signs a public contract that may be large against its own turnover.
When the money moves
Bonds, facilities and cover are arranged between the signing and the first invoice.
You sell
asset and working-capital finance, performance bonds, contract insurance

What a lender or bond provider reads on a contract win.

A contract win is a lending decision that has not been asked for yet. The card puts the value and the dates beside the company's filed accounts and the charges already registered, so a broker or a surety can see the size of the gap before the first call.

The size of the market first, without names: UK public contracts awarded, counted weekly on capexradar.uk, the engine behind Stanfell.

  1. The contract's value beside the company's last filed turnover, cash and working capital, so the size of the stretch is on the card.
  2. Who already lends to the company, from the charges on record, and when they were registered.
  3. The start date and the length of the contract, which set how long the money has to be in place.

Who finances, bonds and insures contract winners.

  • Asset finance and leasing brokers
  • Invoice finance and working-capital lenders
  • Surety and performance bond providers
  • Commercial insurance brokers
  • Business banks and alternative lenders

Contract finance and bond leads: your questions.

Do you know whether the buyer asked for a bond?
Not from the award. Whether a bond, a parent guarantee or a retention applies sits in the contract documents, not the award, so the card does not say so; it is the first thing to ask.
How old are the accounts beside the contract value?
The latest the company has filed, with the date they run to on the card. A contractor growing fast may have outgrown them, which is worth asking about.

If this is what you sell, this is your category.

You sell asset and working-capital finance, performance bonds, contract insurance. Choose “Finance, bonds and insurance” when you sign in and every card you are shown is read for that trade.

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Prices: £99 a month for two regions, £249 for the UK, per market. See the plans