Coventry electric motorcycle manufacturer Maeving has secured a £3m trade finance facility from HSBC UK backed by UK Export Finance, providing additional working capital to increase production for overseas markets.
The company plans to use the facility to meet demand in the US, Germany, and France, with further expansion into European markets planned. Maeving also expects to create 13 jobs as production activity increases in Coventry.
More than 70% of the components used in its motorcycles are made in the UK, meaning higher production has the potential to feed into a wider domestic manufacturing supply chain.
Co-founder and co-chief executive Will Stirrup said: “The support from UKEF and HSBC UK gives us the capital we need to meet growing demand from Europe and the USA. It’s a real vote of confidence in what we’re building here in Coventry.”
The transaction addresses a financing problem that can become more acute as a manufacturer grows. Export orders can require businesses to buy components, hold inventory, employ additional staff, assemble products, and pay shipping costs before revenue from overseas customers is received.
That creates a working-capital gap. A company can have rising sales and a healthy order pipeline while simultaneously requiring more cash to fund production. Smaller manufacturers are particularly exposed because their available credit facilities may not expand as quickly as their order books.
Maeving began exporting to California, Germany, and France in 2023. Founded in 2018 by Stirrup and Seb Inglis-Jones, the business manufactures battery-powered motorcycles in Coventry and sells directly to consumers rather than depending solely on a conventional dealer network.
The company’s direct model changes part of the cash-flow profile by giving Maeving a closer relationship with the end customer, but it does not remove the requirement to fund physical production before delivery. International growth also adds freight, customs, market-entry, service, and regulatory costs.
The UKEF-backed facility was arranged through HSBC UK after Maeving representatives met the export-credit agency at an Innovate UK event in early 2025. Government backing can allow a commercial lender to extend finance where the exporter has viable demand but requires additional balance-sheet capacity to fulfil it.
The bank remains the provider of the trade facility, with UKEF supporting the transaction through its guarantee structure. That model is designed to address financing constraints rather than substitute government lending for commercial banking.
Maeving’s level of domestic sourcing gives the transaction a wider manufacturing dimension. When more than 70% of components are produced in the UK, additional export orders can generate demand across suppliers rather than affecting only final assembly.
The scale remains modest compared with large industrial export programmes, but smaller transactions can be significant for businesses at the point where overseas demand begins to exceed existing production capacity. The £3m facility gives Maeving room to increase working capital without relying entirely on internally generated cash.
Export growth nevertheless introduces additional risks. Currency movements, logistics, product compliance, local consumer demand, service capability, and regulatory differences can all affect profitability even where initial orders are strong.
Electric motorcycles also occupy a different part of the transport market from passenger cars. Smaller battery packs and removable charging systems can reduce some infrastructure requirements, while manufacturers still need to persuade customers to adopt an unfamiliar powertrain and build sufficient after-sales support in each market.
UKEF provided more than £11bn in loans, guarantees, and insurance during the last financial year, supporting up to 85,000 jobs and contributing up to £6.4bn to the economy. Those figures relate to its overall activity rather than Maeving alone.
For Maeving, the commercial measure will be whether additional funding translates into sustainable overseas sales and repeat demand. The planned 13 jobs and high UK component content mean the results of that expansion will also be visible in Coventry and among domestic suppliers.
The facility gives the company the cash capacity to pursue demand that already exists. Converting that opportunity into durable export growth will depend on production execution, overseas distribution, customer adoption, and Maeving’s ability to manage the additional complexity that comes with operating across several markets.
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