Whether it’s a popular chain eatery serving much-loved classics or an independent restaurant that offers a unique dining experience, the UK has a rich history of culinary venues that offer every meal you can think of, from cultural specialities to easy grub for families.

It’s an age-old industry that’s growing well, with research from Statista showing that the UK restaurant market is forecast to rise to 19.5 billion pounds by 2026.

But restauranteurs face unique financial pressures. Inflation can quickly hit supply costs, the state of the economy weighs down on customers’ disposable income, and the fiercely competitive nature of the industry can make it very challenging to keep things profitable. Even poor weather can be devastating if it comes during an all-important peak season.

For those looking to start a new business, the initial setup costs can also seem quite daunting, with expenses like designing and building as well as equipping your restaurant to think of a few.

Luckily, there are funding options available. In this article, we explain how restaurant owners can secure a loan or other finance solutions to open a new eatery or invest in their existing culinary business.

When looking for extra cash, restauranteurs often start by looking at securing a Business Loan.

Loans are a flexible option for securing funds because they can be used however you want. The money is paid straight into your bank account and can be spent on everything from stocking up on supplies, ingredients and beverages to paying for a brand new website with an easy-to-use reservation system.

Repayments are typically made every month with a manageable fixed instalments but if your restaurant gets busier during the holidays, it’s possible to arrange for seasonal repayments during these busy periods.

Restaurants need all sorts of specialist equipment, not just an oven! Even for smaller restaurants, the costs of everything you need for cooking meals, storing supplies and hosting your guests can soon add up.

Equipment Finance (also known as Asset Finance) is a tailored form of finance that can cover all of your culinary and dining purchases, including:

• Ovens
• Deep fryers
• Microwaves
• Refrigeration units
• Freezers
• Prep tables
• Dishwashers
• Sinks
• Plates, bowls and cutlery
• Glassware
• Serving trays
• POS (point-of-sale) systems
• Seating and tables
• Safety equipment
• Uniforms
• Security alarms
• Computers
• Inventory management software

Equipment Finance for restaurants usually covers the purchase, delivery and installation of virtually any item you can think of for your eatery, large or small. Repayments are made as manageable monthly instalments spread out over an agreed term, which is often several years.

A restaurant’s look and feel is almost as important as the food itself, helping to create a relaxing and sociable atmosphere where people can unwind to enjoy their meals.

Fit Out Finance for restaurants provides funding to create the perfect decor and atmosphere for dining, including the purchase and installation of:

• Cooking stations
• Bar counters
• Prep areas
• Storage areas
• HVAC systems
• Signage
• Lighting
• Flooring
• Wall coverings
• Artwork
• Other decorative features

In other words, you can fund any tangible or intangible asset needed to make your restaurant look and feel exactly how you want it. Like Equipment Finance, Fit Out Finance is repaid in fixed monthly instalments.

Restaurants are often filled with expensive equipment, from top-of-the-range commercial ovens to specialised catering refrigeration units.

Machinery and equipment are valuable business assets and, through Refinance, they can be leveraged to release around 80% of the asset’s value back into your business. This produces a cash boost without the need to apply for a more traditional Business Loan, which can sometimes be harder to secure.

The debt is secured against the restaurant equipment that’s being refinanced, which is paid back through monthly instalments. These instalments come in the form of regular fixed cost that won’t be affected by changing interest rates or inflation. You can even consolidate existing finance arrangements through refinance, potentially allowing you to secure more favourable repayment terms.

Many entrepreneurs and culinary enthusiasts harbour the ambition of opening their very own restaurant, whether that’s an independent restaurant catering to diners looking for a unique gourmet experience or an existing franchise with an established reputation and business support.

Aside from applying for a Business Loan, there are two options that are tailored to support those looking to start their own restaurant: New Start Finance and Franchise Finance.

New Start Finance provides everything you’ll need to get your restaurant started, including catering and dining equipment and fit out expenses. It can also provide an initial sum of working capital to help fund things like your initial food and drink inventory, licensing payments, as well as hiring chefs, servers and other eatery support staff.

Franchise Finance is like New Start Finance, except that it’s a tailored package to cover various franchise-specific costs like franchise fees along with the usual equipment purchases, fit out expenses and operational fees.

You can find out more by reading our guide to Franchise Finance.

At Origin Finance, we’re passionate about helping businesses succeed.

We have years of experience supporting the hospitality industry and helping entrepreneurs secure the funding they need. As a broker, we have access to lenders that only consider introduced applications, and some who specialise in lending to restaurant owners.

We’ll also help put your finance application together, maximising your approval chances. We do not charge a fee for our services as we are directly renumerated by the lender.

Get in touch for a free, no-obligation quote to find out how we can help secure finance for your restaurant.

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• Everything your business needs to know about equipment refinance
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Commercial Vehicle Refinance is a way of unlocking money from vehicles such as company cars, vans or any other type of vehicle for business use.

A huge number of companies rely on their vehicles for commuting, transporting goods and carrying out essential business tasks. In the UK, there are 720 thousand company cars on the roads but we also know from RAC figures that there are 4.74 million LGVs, 530,000 HGVs and 140,000 buses & coaches. And those stats don’t include industry-specific vehicles, which are designed to complete specific tasks in areas like construction, and manufacturing and engineering.

Commercial vehicles are often very expensive and, therefore, valuable business assets. In this article, we explain how Commercial Vehicle Refinance works and how it can help asset-rich companies raise working capital.

After an assessment of your vehicle’s worth, the lender will generally release around 75% – 80% of this value, giving your business an immediate cash injection. At the same time, you can keep using the vehicles as you would normally. As part of the refinance agreement, you’ll pay a monthly fee with a fixed interest rate over an agreed term.

You can also refinance vehicles that you don’t fully own. If you’re paying off debt on multiple vehicles, refinance is a way of consolidating these arrangements into one, simplifying payments but also potentially lowering interest rates, which could save your business a significant amount of money and increase your day-to-day cashflow.

Commercial Vehicle Refinance is a type of Equipment Refinance, which means many assets (or in this case, many vehicles) can be used. Examples of vehicles that can be refinanced include:

• Cars
• Taxis
• Buses
• Lorries
• Motorcycles
• Heavy goods vehicles (HGV)
• Coaches
• Bulldozers
• Diggers
• Cranes
• Tractors
• Forklift trucks
• Cement mixers
• Combine harvesters
• Crop sprayers
• Ambulances

This is just a sample of what you can refinance. In practice, you can choose almost any vehicle in your possession.

Commercial Vehicle Refinance offers a range of benefits, including:

• You can access the value of your vehicle as an immediate cash boost.
• Monthly repayments are fixed.
• You can potentially reduce interest rate payments and secure better repayment terms on your existing debts.
• It’s easier to access than traditional business loans as there are less stringent credit requirements.
• By using the vehicle as the security for the finance, there’s no need for any additional collateral.
• You can keep using your equipment, and after the agreement is paid, you’ll regain complete ownership.
• You’ve got complete control over what you refinance, whether that’s a single vehicle or a whole fleet.

One of the advantages of Commercial Vehicle Refinance is that the money is transferred into your bank account to be used as you see fit. This means it can help you buy more vehicles, hire new staff, fit out your office, upgrade your equipment, or boost your working capital to cover day-to-day expenses. It’s really up to you.

Yes, older vehicles can also be refinanced. There may be age limits on some vehicles, but at Origin we will be able to let you know if they’re eligible for refinance.

The business and the asset must be based in the UK to be eligible for Commercial Vehicle Refinance. There’s also a £10,000 minimum value of what we can refinance.

As specialists in Commercial Vehicle Refinance, we can help you find the right solution for your business.

We can provide a free, no obligation valuation of your vehicles so you know exactly how much you can raise. We can also help you put your application together to maximise your chances of success.

Get in touch to find out more.

If you like this article, you might also enjoy reading:

• Everything your business needs to know about equipment refinance
• How to finance commercial vehicles for your business

Understanding healthcare and medical equipment finance

The private healthcare industry is a huge contributor to the UK economy, with the market size reaching an estimated £11 billion last year.

For healthcare business owners, equipment represents a major investment. It’s also an industry where technological advancements are happening all the time. As patients expect the most up-to-date care, healthcare providers must upgrade their machinery on a regular basis. It’s an enormous financial pressure, requiring significant working capital. Fortunately, there are options available. In this article, we highlight the different finance solutions available for leasing, buying and maintaining health and medical equipment.

Healthcare & Medical Business Loans 

Business Loans provide a lump-sum payment, which companies can use however they see fit. This offers simplicity, with fixed-rated repayments, but also a lot of flexibility, as the money can be used to cover a wide range of needs, including buying, repairing, or upgrading expensive healthcare and medical equipment.

Healthcare & Medical Equipment & Machinery Finance 

Equipment Finance along with Plant and Machinery Finance are sometimes referred to simply as ‘asset finance’, covering operating lease, hire purchase agreements and finance lease. The advantage of this type of finance is that companies can get the essential, and often expensive, equipment they need without a large upfront investment, spreading costs into manageable monthly repayments.

Below, we’ve listed some examples of the types of equipment that you can buy:

GP surgeries: Blood pressure monitors, electrocardiogram machines and scales.

Optician practices: Phoropters, slit lamps and autorefractors.

Pharmacies: Refrigerators, freezers and pill counters.

Dental practices: Dental drills, dental x-ray machines and dental suction tools.

Veterinary clinics: Ultrasound machines, vet x-ray systems and autoclaves.

Care homes: Adjustable beds, IV pumps and oxygen concentrators.

Physiotherapy clinics: Gait analysis systems, electric massage tables and hydrotherapy pools.

Cosmetic surgeries: Surgical microscopes, anaesthesia machines and surgical headlights.

As you can see from the diverse examples, you can fund virtually any type of asset that has a health or medical use – and the finance also covers installation and software costs.

In fact, what you buy doesn’t have to be limited to healthcare and medical equipment. Office furniture, retail equipment such as checkout tills, computers and any other type of asset can be acquired. You can even use the finance to pay for non-tangible assets such as websites and branding.

Healthcare & Medical Vehicle Finance 

You can use Commercial Vehicle Finance for a range of vehicles like ambulances, minibuses, company cars, vans, etc. It’s flexible enough to tailor for the specific needs of the healthcare sector, such as converting a transport vehicle so that it’s wheelchair accessibleor adding refrigerators to a van.

Healthcare & Medical Equipment Refinance 

In the healthcare sector, expensive specialist equipment can tie up significant capital. If your business already has a wealth of assets, but you’re looking to unlock finance for investment and growth, healthcare providers are able to refinance their equipment and machinery, including vehicles.

You’ll typically receive up to 80% of your asset’s value upfront, while retaining full ownership and continued use of the equipment.

Healthcare & Medical Fitout Finance 

Whether you’re refitting your current premises or relocating to a new one, Fitout Financeprovides the funds for every part of your renovation, from construction and installation to equipment and furnishings. Again, any equipment funded can be used for rudimentary office kit, specialised medical machinery or any other asset that you need for your business. It can even be used for fixed assets like HVAC, electrical signage or an intercom system.

Healthcare & Medical New Start Finance 

Healthcare is an exciting industry for startups and new businesses, whether providing services to customers or developing the next breakthrough as a HealthTech pioneer.

For those entrepreneurs who also have a vision but need some financial support to get them going, our New Start Finance product has been created to specifically help new businesses get up and running. The package provides working capital and funds for fitout works and equipment purchases.

Healthcare & Medical Franchise Finance 

Several big-name healthcare providers offer franchise opportunities, such as Boots Opticians and Bluebird Care, or similar joint venture partnerships, like Specsavers and Vision Express. Franchise Finance available to support those who are looking to take advantage of such opportunities, covering the entire franchise costs, including equipment purchases.

How can Origin Finance help? 

The team at Origin Finance have been helping healthcare and medical providers, including pharmacies, for many years. Our specialised finance and Professional Loans service has been tailored to meet the industry’s specific needs, helping small businesses access finance to enable them to grow.

With our deep understanding of healthcare financing, we can connect you with the right lenders, saving you time and hassle. Our expertise comes at no cost to you, as we’re remunerated directly by the lender.

Get in touch for a free no-obligation quote today.

If you enjoyed this article, you may also like:

• Everything your business needs to know about equipment refinance
• Asset finance explained