Business loans in Geelong

A decade ago, the story of Geelong’s economy was about what it was losing: the Ford engine plant, the Alcoa smelter at Point Henry. The current story is different. Council figures for the year to June 2025 show manufacturing leading local jobs growth for the second year in a row, with factory employment back where it was before those closures. Health care, anchored by the hospitals and the NDIA’s national office on Malop Street, remains the largest employer of all.

That mix of factories, clinics, builders and coastal tourism means Geelong borrowers want very different things from a lender. This page walks through what’s specific to the region. One thing to be clear about up front: we have no office in Geelong. The service is national, and you deal with us by phone and online, which is also how most lenders now handle Geelong deals.

What do Geelong businesses usually borrow for?

Local sector	Typical funding need	Finance that often fits
Manufacturing (Corio, North Geelong, Lara)	CNC machines, fabrication gear, materials for a big order	Equipment finance, invoice finance
Health, aged care and disability services	Clinic fit-outs, vehicles, payroll while claims clear	Term loans, working capital loans
Construction in the growth corridors	Plant, utes, cash flow between progress claims	Progress payment finance, equipment finance
Surf Coast and Bellarine hospitality	Stock and staff before summer, refurbishments in winter	Short-term loans, lines of credit
Retail and services in central Geelong	Fit-outs, a second site, buying an existing business	Unsecured loans, business acquisition loans

The western growth areas around Armstrong Creek and Lara keep a steady pipeline of work flowing to trades and builders. That pipeline is good news for revenue but tough on cash, because material and labour costs land weeks before a progress claim is paid.

The payroll tax detail Geelong employers miss

Victoria charges payroll tax above $1m in annual wages. The standard rate is 4.85%, but eligible regional employers pay 1.2125%, and the State Revenue Office counts Greater Geelong as regional Victoria.

The catch is the 85% test. Regional employees must receive no less than 85% of your Victorian taxable wages, meaning people who do more than half their work for you in regional Victoria. Where someone works from is what counts. The SRO’s own ruling walks through a Geelong business that failed the test because most of its staff lived in metropolitan Melbourne and worked from home. Only the handful based in Geelong counted as regional.

Why does that matter for a loan? Two reasons:

• Serviceability. A lender works out what you can repay after fixed costs. A business that has assumed the regional rate but owes the standard one has a bigger tax bill, and a weaker application, than its accounts suggest.
• Surprise debts. If an SRO review back-dates the standard rate, the result is a lump-sum debt. Lenders treat overdue state tax much as they treat ATO tax debt: explainable, but it must be addressed.

If your team is spread between Geelong and Melbourne, check your position with your accountant before you apply. Our guide to payroll tax by state compares the thresholds.

Buying an industrial property around Geelong

Plenty of Geelong manufacturers lease. When one decides to buy, Victoria’s commercial and industrial property tax (CIPT) reform comes into play. A property generally enters the regime on a qualifying sale from 1 July 2024. The buyer on that entry sale pays stamp duty one last time, later qualifying sales don’t attract duty, and an annual tax based on land value applies 10 years after entry.

So two similar factories in Corio can carry very different upfront costs. If one has already entered the regime, there may be no duty to fund at settlement at all. Ask your conveyancer which category applies before you sign, because the answer changes the deposit and the loan amount. Our commercial property loans page covers the borrowing side, and the LVR calculator shows how much equity a lender is likely to want.

Need funds for a deposit or a settlement shortfall before a bank finishes its paperwork? Tell us the figures and your settlement date. It takes a minute, and sending it leaves your credit file untouched.

Seasonal cash flow on the coast

Torquay, Lorne, Queenscliff and Ocean Grove run to a different calendar from the city. A café or surf school may do the bulk of its year between December and Easter, then trade thinly through winter. Lenders who set weekly repayments based on an annual average can leave a coastal business stretched in July.

Better options for seasonal operators include:

1. A line of credit drawn in spring for stock and staff, cleared from summer takings.
2. A term loan with repayments matched to the busy months, where a lender offers that flexibility.
3. Using property equity for a winter refurbishment, rather than an expensive short-term loan.

Our page on business loans for seasonal businesses explains how lenders read uneven bank statements.

A Geelong scenario

Hypothetical figures, used only to show how the pieces fit.

A steel fabrication business in North Geelong employs 22 people and turns over about $6m. It wins a two-year supply contract with a large builder that pays on 45-day terms after month end. Filling the first orders means buying a $340k plasma cutter and carrying about $280k of steel and wages before the first payment arrives.

Their bank likes the plasma cutter deal but wants several weeks to look at extra working capital. So the directors take equipment finance for the machine through the bank, which keeps that money cheap, and set up invoice finance against the builder’s invoices to cover the 45-day gap. While preparing the application, their accountant notices that eight staff now live in Melbourne’s western suburbs and work mostly from home, so the 85% regional test needs checking before the lender’s cash flow model is final.

Banks first, then the wider market

Geelong’s banks and credit unions are often the cheapest place to borrow, and if your business fits their criteria, take their offer seriously. Many Geelong owners do exactly that.

Banks are less suited to some situations: a newer ABN, an ATO or SRO debt, uneven seasonal income, or a deadline measured in days. If yours said no, that’s where non-bank and private lenders earn their place. Compare non-bank business loans, read what to do after being declined by the bank, and look at the neighbouring Ballarat and Melbourne pages if you operate across the region.

Funding the next stage of your Geelong business

Whether it’s a machine for a factory in Corio, a second clinic in Waurn Ponds or stock for the summer rush in Torquay, what decides your options is the security you have, how steady your income is and the purpose of the money.

Put those three things in our enquiry form. Most Geelong owners finish it in around sixty seconds, and no credit enquiry is run against you for sending it. We keep what you send in-house instead of having it broadcast to every funder going, which means no flood of sales calls afterwards. A person on our team, not an algorithm, weighs up your circumstances and rings you with a view on the options. Realistic figures (the true loan size, the real deadline, what the property is worth) raise the odds that our first suggestion is the one that settles.

Start your Geelong business loan enquiry →