Finance for Pubs, Bars and Clubs

At Rangewell, we help pubs, clubs and bars across the UK, from traditional country inns to busy city bars, find the finance they need.

Understanding your funding options

Our funding team includes experts in the licensed trade. They understand the challenges and the opportunities you face, and the funding options that are open to you.

They can work with you to look at all the different ways to raise funding, whether you want to set up a new bar, acquire an existing business or make the most of a business you already have.  

There are many types of business finance to consider. To find the most appropriate for your business, you will need to look at the costs you need to cover. These include your premises, staff, stock, license fees, marketing, cleaning and more.

Writing a detailed business plan is essential as:

• It will let you see where the costs are, and how much funding you really need
• It will help you understand the potential profits you could enjoy
• It will help lenders recognise that you have a professional approach to your business
• It will help you identify the funding options that are right for you

Funding licensed premises

Pub, bar or club, your premises will be one of your highest costs, and one of the first choices you will need to make. Taking over already licensed premises will reduce the red tape for your license application. An existing bar will already be kitted out with the basic fixtures and fittings, and could be a cheaper alternative, helping you open for business faster.

However, a really successful established bar business could actually carry a substantial premium.

You may prefer to look at fitting out new premises. This may reduce costs, but the challenges can be greater. Getting the right location is essential. A busy city centre may be dead at night, while a town that is sleepy during the day may have a busy nighttime scene.

You will also have to get a license from your local authority, which may not always be forthcoming, especially if local residents object.

If you rent your bar or club premises, you may need funding to secure the lease. We can provide a number of solutions to help you with the costs.

However, renting means you will remain at the mercy of your landlord, and at risk of rent increases. Buying your premises with a commercial mortgage could potentially reduce your monthly outgoings, and help you acquire a valuable business asset.

Find out more about commercial funding to lease or buy your premises.

Making bar equipment affordable with Asset Finance

While tables, chairs and glasses are the obvious equipment for any bar, there is much more required.

The basic equipment includes:

• Glasswashers
• Speed racks
• Back bar refrigeration
• Coolers
• Pumps
• POS equipment

If yours is a themed bar you may need:

• Games equipment
• AV Entertainment

You may also need kitchen equipment, including:

• Freezers & Refrigerators
• Food Preparation Counters
• Processors
• Ranges – including frying ranges
• Ovens – including specialised oven for Pizza and Potatoes
• Extractors and ventilation
• Sinks and washing stations
• Dishwashers
• Shelving and racking
• Safety Equipment

Fortunately, Asset Finance solutions exist which can make the equipment you need affordable by using it as the security for the loan. This means that if you were unable to repay, the lender would simply repossess the equipment, reducing the risk to the lender and hence the cost to you.

Asset funding covers both hire purchase and lease arrangements

Hire Purchase

Hire Purchase lets you spread the cost of buying the equipment you will use for the long term. Arrangements generally last between 12 and 72 months and require you to pay a deposit plus fixed monthly instalments for the agreed term, after which the assets become yours.

Equipment vendors may offer Hire Purchase arrangements to support their sales. At Rangewell, we have found that arranging your own finance can be more cost-effective.

Finance and Operating Leases

Leases work like a rental agreement and let you spread the cost of equipment with no upfront payment. This type of finance could be the best option for equipment which will have a limited life.

Find out more about Asset Funding. 

Other types of finance for your bar business

Business Loans

Business loans are the best-known forms of business finance. There are two main types:

• Secured Loans are ‘secured’ because the lender will require security in case you cannot pay the loan back. This could be your home or your business premises. They can be used to borrow large sums of money, often in excess of £250,000.
• Unsecured Loans can be suitable for smaller sums, from £5000 upwards, although some lenders will not let you borrow more than one month’s turnover with an unsecured loan.

We can help you find the kind of loan to fit your needs.

Cashflow funding

Cashflow is a major challenge for every business, especially if your trade is seasonal. There are a number of solutions:

Revolving Credit Facilities

Revolving Credit Facilities bring a line of credit, with an agreed limit that you can call on when you need it. You only pay for the money you take out, so it can be a cost-effective way to raise funds if you need them.

Merchant Cash Advances

Merchant Cash Advances may be ideal if your bar takes payments through a card terminal or PDQ machine. The lender works with your payment company, and can advance you the equivalent of up to one month’s turnover. This advance is repaid automatically by deducting a proportion of the payment every time a customer uses a card to pay.

We can work with you to help you find the finance you need.

Tax funding

Tax demands always seem to arrive at the most inconvenient moment. A Tax Loan can help you to spread the cost of VAT and annual tax demands into regular monthly payments, helping smooth your cashflow.

Our finance experts can help you deal with your tax bills.

Working Capital Finance

Working Capital Finance is a short-term loan designed to give you additional working capital, helping you pay staff and suppliers during the early weeks and months of the business.

Our finance experts can help solve your working capital needs.

Alternative business funding

Many traditional banks seem to have turned their backs on small business lending since the credit crunch.

It has meant that many businesses have needed to search for a source of alternative business funding. New solutions like Crowdfunding, and established answers such as Venture Capital, are often considered as alternative funding solutions. However, at Rangewell we believe that these can have major drawbacks.

Costs can be high, raising the funds you need can mean long delays or even fail altogether, and you could even run the risk of losing control of your business. Fortunately, we can help you find better alternatives from a new generation of business lender.

Contact us to find out more about our approach to alternative funding.

Buying an existing business

Buying an existing bar or club might be the fastest way to acquire a profitable business.

You need to see the costs and the profits it generates from the company accounts to help you agree on a fair price for the business – and convince a potential lender that your plans are viable.

A Secured Loan could help you raise the funds you need. By spreading the repayments over a longer period, a loan secured on your business itself (or your other assets) could help you to borrow the sums required for a business purchase.

Another alternative may be to use ‘jigsaw’ funding. This is a bespoke finance package, made up of a number of loan types, such as a Commercial Mortgage together with an Unsecured or Secured loan, and Asset Finance.

Contact us to find out more about funding for buying an existing licenced business.

How we help you capitalise your business

At Rangewell, our expertise works to bring you the financial solutions you need to capitalise your business, whether you want to fund capital expenses, working capital or growth.

We can help with every type of finance, including Unsecured and Secured Loans, Asset Finance, Merchant Cash Advance, Commercial Mortgages, Working Capital Finance and more.

We work across the entire lending industry, while our finance experts have personal experience in the needs of different business sectors - including the licensed trade. We can work with you to understand how they affect you, and to help you find the most cost-effective solutions for your bar, club or even pub business loans.

Whether you have a straightforward, small-scale funding need, or require a complicated ‘Jigsaw’ funding plan made up of a combination of financial products to buy an existing business, we can work with you to find the answers, streamline your application and secure the funds you need.