Borrower intent data
The signal that a specific company is likely to seek debt financing soon. How it differs from horizontal B2B intent, and what triggers actually count.
Definition
Borrower intent data is structured data signalling that a specific company is likely to seek debt financing in the near term, derived from observable trigger events. It is a vertical sibling of horizontal B2B intent data (Bombora, 6sense) but focused on a single commercial action — needing capital — rather than topical interest in general.
What it isn't
Borrower intent is not:
- A guarantee that a company will borrow — only that the prior probability is materially elevated relative to a random comparable company
- The same as "buyer intent" in horizontal B2B (which tracks reading behaviour across publisher networks)
- A consent signal — borrower intent is observed externally, not declared
The trigger taxonomy
The strongest borrower-intent triggers, ordered roughly by signal quality:
- Recent incorporation (≤ 90 days). The single highest-density signal in UK SME lending. New companies typically explore working-capital options inside their first quarter.
- Hiring surge (e.g. 30%+ headcount growth in a quarter). Indicates revenue acceleration that often outpaces cash flow.
- Loss of a major customer. Signals working-capital pressure; trickier to detect from public data.
- Director changes. New CEOs/CFOs frequently audit and restructure financing in their first 60 days.
- Charges filed. Indicates existing secured borrowings — both a positive credit signal (they're bankable) and a refinancing-pursuit signal.
- Trademark or patent filings. Often precede growth-stage capital raises.
- Change of registered office to a larger premises.
How borrower intent differs from horizontal B2B intent
Horizontal B2B intent platforms (Bombora, 6sense, G2) aggregate topical content consumption — articles read, search terms used, software reviewed — into broad interest signals like "this company is researching CRM tools". The platforms are excellent for SaaS sales teams, but the signal is several abstraction layers away from a transaction.
Borrower intent data is targeted at a specific commercial action and uses concrete event triggers, not reading behaviour. The signal-to-noise is much higher, but the volume is lower and the channel is verticalised.
Sources of borrower intent in the UK
- Companies House — incorporations, director changes, charges, addresses (the primary source)
- Job board scraping — hiring surge detection
- Intellectual Property Office — trademark and patent filings
- Open Banking data (with consent) — direct cash-flow signals (highest quality, hardest to obtain)
Operational implications
Two facts matter operationally:
- Freshness decays fast. Leads contacted within 7 days of a trigger convert at roughly 3× the rate of leads at 30 days. Beyond 60 days, the channel approaches the conversion rate of generic cold lists.
- Hooks must reference the trigger. A generic "we lend to SMEs" outreach to a borrower-intent lead wastes the freshness. The outreach must reference the trigger ("we work with construction companies in their first 90 days — typical working-capital needs are £30–80k").
Related
- Companies House — primary UK source
- SIC code — the industry filter on borrower-intent leads
- How UK fintech lenders source SME borrowers in 2026
Frequently asked
How is borrower intent data different from horizontal B2B intent (Bombora, 6sense)?
Horizontal B2B intent tracks topical reading behaviour. Borrower intent targets a specific commercial action (needing capital) using concrete trigger events (incorporation, hiring, charges, director changes).
What trigger events count as borrower-intent signals?
Recent incorporation, hiring surges, large customer churn, director changes, charges filed, trademark filings, and office-size changes.
How fresh does borrower intent data need to be to convert?
Conversion drops sharply after 30 days. Leads contacted within 7 days convert at roughly 3× the rate of leads contacted at 30 days.