Referring an athlete or their company: a guide for agents and advisers
Give your client access to relevant finance options while keeping their existing advisers involved: Sorbus Finance helps identify lenders, explain requirements and prepare the case. Introduce an athlete’s company or a qualifying high-net-worth personal enquiry using your own contact details, with the client’s permission before detailed information is shared. A referral is an enquiry, not an application or confirmation of eligibility.
Broker support to help you move forward
Access to relevant lenders, help presenting your circumstances and a broker to explain the next step: that is the value Sorbus brings to your enquiry.
Personal borrowing is a separate route from company finance. Sports professionals who meet the high-net-worth criteria may enquire personally, subject to eligibility checks and lender criteria. Sporting status alone does not establish eligibility.
Why advisers refer to a broker
Agents and financial managers often know the athlete's position far better than any lender. What they may not have is the time or the lender knowledge to present contract income, a thin credit file or a new company in a way that fits each lender's criteria. That is where we can help, working alongside the existing advisers rather than around them.
We are a commercial finance broker, not a lender, and we do not give tax, legal or investment advice. Decisions about structure stay with the accountant and the client.
Referrals come to us at very different stages. Some advisers contact us before a client has chosen an asset, simply to understand whether finance is realistic. Others come to us after a lender has declined, wanting to know why and whether another route exists. Both are welcome, and an early conversation often saves wasted effort later.
How a referral works
The initial enquiry creates no commitment to borrow. Any later application, fees and finance terms should be explained and agreed before the client proceeds.
- You send a short enquiry with your own details and a brief outline
- We call you to understand the borrower, the company or high-net-worth personal route, the asset and the timing
- With the client's permission, we speak to the client or their directors
- We explain which lenders are likely to suit and what they will ask for
- Any formal application only happens once the client has agreed to proceed
Information we will eventually need
The list below relates to company finance. For a personal enquiry, the team will explain the applicable high-net-worth requirements and any income, asset and affordability evidence needed. We do not need documents at the first enquiry, so please do not include them in the form below.
- The company name, structure and how long it has been trading
- Recent company accounts or management information
- An outline of the agreements that pay the company and when they end
- Existing company finance commitments
- Details of the asset, its cost and any deposit or part exchange
Client permission and confidentiality
When you complete the form, consent covers your own contact details. Please do not send your client's personal documents, identity details or copies of signed contracts through this form or paste contract terms into the message. Before we share or request any further information about your client, you must have your client's permission, and we will confirm that with you.
Our privacy policy explains how enquiry information is collected, used and kept. Please read it before sending the form. A business enquiry can still contain personal contact details, so only send what is needed for an initial conversation.
When we may say it is not the right time
If a contract is close to ending, the company has no banking history yet, or the proposed borrowing looks high against fixed income, we will say so. Advising a client not to borrow, or to borrow less, is a legitimate outcome and one we are comfortable recommending. Any finance is subject to status and lender criteria, and we cannot promise an outcome.
Useful guides to share
If you are an accountant, we are happy to talk through how lenders are likely to read the company's accounts before anything is submitted. If you are an agent, it often helps to tell us when contract discussions are due, so any application can be timed sensibly around them. Financial managers can help most by giving a clear picture of existing commitments, so we can check the proposed borrowing against the whole position rather than in isolation.
The contract income guide explains how lenders read sporting pay. The overseas guide covers new signings with little UK history. The structuring guide sets out balloon payments, early settlement and what happens on a transfer, and the FAQ gives short answers you can pass on to a client.