Finance for Engineering Equipment

The cost of basic engineering equipment such a lathe run into hundreds of thousands of pounds. Adding ancillaries, setting up, and integrating everything into an efficient production line can run into millions, even before you start looking at providing computer control and robots.

The costs are made all the more challenging because you will need to have every asset in place before production can begin. Raising the necessary funds through loans may be possible, but costly.

Acquiring production assets

You may be able to set up a basic assembly-based manufacturing business with little more than basic hand tools. But if your plans are more than a screwdriver operation, you will need machine tools, and the larger your operation becomes, and the more processes you bring in house, the more production tools you will need.

The needs don’t stop with tooling. Conveyors and handling equipment will be needed for virtually all modern quantity production operations. Robots and custom-built automated production equipment will be necessary as your business grows. The equipment you need will depend on your plans. While a single basic CNC machine can cost just a few thousand pounds, a fully automated assembly line for a small appliance will cost several million.

Your funding options

Only the largest engineering operations have the cash reserves to equip a full production operation outright.

Fortunately, there is a range of funding options when financing new assets and equipment you need.

• Asset Finance
• Mezzanine Finance
• Borrowing
• Commercial Mortgage

Asset Finance

Asset Finance - Hire Purchase and leasing - can help put virtually any type of production equipment within your reach.

Hire Purchase – buying your equipment

Hire Purchase offers a straightforward way to spread the cost of equipping your production operation. You pay a fixed rate of interest and agreed monthly payments, making budgeting simple and easy. You will need to put down a deposit, typically between 5%-25% of the total price, and repay the remainder, together with the interest, over an agreed period of up to 60 months. Smaller items, such as workbenches or basic tools such as pillar drills and bench grinders, may be suitable for Hire Purchase.

You may also have the option to structure your payments to fit your projected cash flow. For example, you can reduce your regular payments by agreeing to pay a final lump sum, known as a balloon payment, when your production is fully operational.

Lease – avoiding capital costs

Leasing operates like a rental agreement. With a lease, your production equipment is hired to you by the finance company. It remains their property, avoiding the need for capital expenditure and ensuring that you need never be left with obsolete equipment. Monthly payments and interest rates are fixed for the duration of the contract. You may also be able to choose a lease which gives maintenance and repair back to the finance company, helping reduce your risk.

You can pay for your equipment from the income it generates each month.

When equipment becomes obsolete, or your production process changes, you can simply return it to the finance house at the end of the lease. This makes it simpler to adopt the latest technology - helping your business maintain a competitive edge.

Pay less than with suppliers' finance

Equipment manufacturers and dealers will often offer HP arrangements. These can sound very attractive, and can even include 0% finance options. While these can look attractive, at Rangewell we have found that there can actually be hidden costs. You may be able to save money by arranging finance yourself.

See how we can help you beat 0% finance deals.

Helping you raise cash for a deposit

Problem with raising cash for a deposit for an HP deal - or for other business purposes? An Asset Refinance agreement can let you release the investment you have already made in existing equipment, and re-use the funds.

It works by letting you sell existing assets to a finance company, who will provide you with a cash payment which you can use as you wish. You will then make monthly repayments to buy them back.

You can continue to use the equipment while you are repaying.  You can also use Asset Refinance to replace an existing funding agreement - allowing you to reduce monthly outgoings.

Find out more about Asset Refinance.

Mezzanine Funding for large-scale needs

To acquire a complete factory or fund a large production line, you may need a scale of funding that many lenders will simply not be able to provide.

Equity funding could be one way to provide the scale of funding required. There are no repayments to make, because you are selling a share in your business. However, it will mean sharing all future profits with your investors and could mean losing control of your business.

Mezzanine Finance can provide a solution. A lender will provide the funds you need, secured on the future of your business.

This means that they will offer a high level of funding, but you will need to repay their debt and interest charges - if you fail to repay, they will have the right to take an agreed proportion of equity interest in the company.

Find out more about how Mezzanine Finance can offer a high level of funding.

Borrowing

It may be possible to simply borrow funding for individual machines.

There are two types of basic business lending, which can be used for any business purpose and can provide a simple way to funding for. Unsecured business loans can be suitable for smaller items and usually allow you up to 5 years to repay.

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, and payback can be arranged over 10 year plus terms.

Raising funds with a Commercial Mortgage

If you own your factory or other business premises, you may be able to use them to raise the funding you need for a production facility. By taking out a Commercial Mortgage on the property, you can raise a large sum which you can use for any business purpose. Repayments can be over 20 years or more.

Find out more about raising funds with a Commercial Mortgage.

How we help you capitalise engineering manufacturing

At Rangewell, we work across the entire lending industry. and our finance experts have personal experience of different business sectors, including the engineering industry.

Their expertise works for you. They know the lenders who specialise in finance for production machinery, and those who understand your business sector. It means that we can help you find the most competitive rates for all types of finance solutions.

We put this knowledge to work for you, finding the most competitive deals for the equipment you need, from a single machine to a complete line.

As well as conventional finance products, we can help you find Alternative Funding, using new loan providers and styles of funding. We know the lenders who can offer the most competitive rates for the sector. Whether you have a straightforward finance need or require a complicated ‘Jigsaw’ funding plan made up of a combination of lending types, we can provide the answers.

Whatever type of manufacturing equipment you need - from engineering equipment costing in the thousands to funding for woodworking machinery or jewellery production finance options - Rangewell has you covered.