Fund the kit your business runs on, without draining the cash it runs on. Vehicles, plant, machinery, commercial kitchens, refrigeration, EPOS, IT and full fit-outs, spread over the working life of the asset through hire purchase or leasing.
Hire purchase (HP). You own the asset at the end. VAT usually paid up front, capital allowances available, fixed payments. Right for assets you will keep: kitchens, machinery, vehicles you run into the ground.
Leasing. Lower entry cost, payments fully deductible as an expense, options to upgrade at the end of term. Right for assets that date quickly: IT, EPOS, some vehicles.
We will tell you which fits, and it is worth a word with your accountant on the tax treatment; we speak that language too.
Asset finance travels better than property lending: the security is the kit, not the postcode, so Highland and island businesses fund on the same terms as the central belt. Typical Scottish uses: catering and refrigeration for hospitality, agricultural machinery from tractors to grain dryers, engineering and fabrication plant in the energy supply chain around Aberdeen, marine equipment on the west coast, and refinancing owned machinery to release working capital fast. If the asset holds value and does a job, there is usually a funder for it.
Farm kit is some of the most financeable equipment in Scotland, because it holds its value and there is a deep second-hand market for it. Tractors, combines, forage harvesters, sprayers, balers, telehandlers, livestock handling systems, grain dryers, milking parlours and slurry equipment all go on hire purchase or lease over 2 to 7 years, with deposits that are often just the VAT and payments that can be shaped around the farming year: harvest-weighted, annual or seasonal rather than flat monthly (indicative). Used machinery and dealer-sourced imports are financeable with the right funder, and refinancing owned kit is a standard way to release working capital without borrowing against the land. Diversification equipment fits too: timber harvesting and forestry machinery, renewable installations, farm shop and processing fit-out, and the pods and lodges that go with a move into accommodation. Our agriculture and rural finance page covers the wider sector, including land-secured lending for the bigger projects.
A vessel that earns its living is financed on the same principle as any other working asset, but by a narrower set of lenders who understand coding, survey and the UK Ship Register. Charter boats, wildlife trip boats, commercial RIBs, workboats and fish farm support vessels all have their own route, covered on our page on marine finance for commercial boats and vessels, with its own enquiry form.
Missives, standard securities, LBTT and lender coverage all work differently north of the border. Read our guide to property finance in Scotland.
Yes. The asset itself is the security, so lender appetite for new entities is better here than almost anywhere else.
We have financed and fitted a commercial kitchen in our own business. Catering equipment, refrigeration and furniture are all standard fare for the right lenders.
Within a window (often 3 months), yes, via refinance.
Tell us the asset, the price and the business. Approvals this week are realistic.