Asset refinance in Glasgow
Asset refinance releases cash from equipment a Glasgow business already owns. A lender values the plant, machinery or vehicles on your balance sheet, advances a percentage against them and takes a charge over the asset, and you repay over an agreed term. CoreFi matches your case to lenders who fund Glasgow firms. Rates and advance levels are indicative and depend on the asset, its age and the business.
Glasgow's engineering, construction and haulage businesses tend to be asset-rich and cash-tight. A fabricator in Hillington Park with three quarters of a million pounds of press brakes and laser cutters on the balance sheet, or a groundworks contractor running plant across Clyde waterfront sites, often has more capital tied up in kit than in the bank. Asset refinance is the product that turns some of that back into working capital without selling anything or stopping work.
CoreFi is a commercial finance broker. We arrange asset refinance for Glasgow businesses, principally limited companies, against plant, machinery, commercial vehicles and specialist equipment already owned outright or with equity in it. We package the case, approach lenders whose criteria fit the asset and the sector, and manage it to drawdown. We do not lend our own money and we are not tied to any lender.
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Tell us what you own and what you need
A list of the assets, roughly what you paid and when, any finance still outstanding on them, and what the money is for. It costs nothing to start and there is no obligation.
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We match you with suitable lenders
We assess the assets and the business against our whole-of-market panel and identify the lenders whose criteria fit the kit, its age and your sector.
- 3
We package and submit
We prepare the case, including asset schedules and the accounts the lender will ask for, and put it to the lenders most likely to fund it rather than to all of them.
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Valuation, offer and drawdown
The lender values the assets, issues terms, and on acceptance takes its charge and releases the funds. We manage the process to completion.
What asset refinance actually does
Asset refinance is sometimes called capital release or, where the lender buys the asset and leases it straight back, sale and leaseback. The mechanics are the same in outline: a lender values equipment you already own, advances a percentage of that value to you as a lump sum, takes a charge over the asset, and you repay monthly over a term that usually runs two to five years.
What it is not is a loan against your general creditworthiness. The asset carries the deal. That matters for Glasgow businesses that look marginal on paper but hold serious kit: a Cambuslang engineering firm coming off a thin year can often refinance a CNC machining centre when it could not get an unsecured facility of the same size.
The realistic uses we see are a VAT or corporation tax bill landing at the wrong moment, funding the deposit and early works on a contract before the first application for payment, buying out a departing shareholder, or consolidating several expensive short-term facilities into one cheaper monthly payment.
What Glasgow lenders will refinance, and what they will not
Lenders want assets that are identifiable, durable and resaleable. In practice that means serial-numbered plant and machinery, HGVs and trailers, commercial vehicles, materials handling, CNC and fabrication equipment, food production lines, and some specialist energy-sector kit, which matters given how many Glasgow suppliers now serve offshore wind and decommissioning work out of the Clyde.
They are far more cautious about assets that are hard to remove or resell. Anything bolted into a building you do not own, heavily bespoke one-off rigs, IT and consumer electronics, and tooling with no secondary market are all difficult. Age matters too: most lenders want equipment with a useful life comfortably beyond the refinance term, so a fifteen-year-old machine is a harder case than a five-year-old one.
Existing finance is not a barrier. If the kit is part-way through a hire purchase agreement, a lender can often settle the outstanding balance and advance against the equity, though the advance is obviously smaller.
Why a broker is worth it on a refinance
Asset refinance is one of the products where lender choice changes the answer most. Valuation approach, advance percentage, view on asset age and appetite for the sector all vary widely, and a case one lender declines outright another will write at a sensible rate.
Going direct means either accepting the first offer or making several applications, and multiple declines leave a trail. We take one packaged case to the lenders whose published and actual criteria fit the asset and the business, which keeps your credit file clean and gets you a realistic answer faster.
We are also straight about when refinance is the wrong tool. If the underlying problem is that the business is loss-making rather than illiquid, releasing capital from the plant buys months and adds a monthly payment. A broker who only earns on completion has an obvious incentive not to say that, which is exactly why we do.
Frequently asked questions
Do you cover all of Glasgow and the surrounding area?
Yes. We work with businesses across Glasgow and the wider Clyde Valley, from Hillington Park and Govan to Cambuslang, Blantyre and the East End. The lenders we match you to will confirm whether they fund your specific sector, asset type and location.
Can I refinance equipment that still has finance on it?
Often yes. A lender can settle the outstanding balance on an existing hire purchase or lease agreement and advance against the remaining equity. The cash you receive is smaller than on an asset owned outright, and the numbers only work where there is genuine equity in the asset.
How much can I release?
It depends on the asset, its age and condition, and the lender's valuation approach rather than on what you originally paid. Advances are set against the lender's view of resale value, not book value, so an honest asset schedule at the start avoids a disappointing offer later. We will give you a realistic range before you commit to anything.
Will refinancing my plant affect my ability to fund new equipment later?
It can. The lender takes a charge over the refinanced assets, so those are no longer free security for a future facility. If you expect to need new kit within the next year it is worth telling us at the outset, because the sensible structure may be a smaller release now or a different product entirely.
Do you lend the money yourselves?
No. CoreFi is a broker, not a lender. We arrange the facility with lenders on our panel and are paid a commission by the lender on completion. We will tell you if we think refinance is the wrong answer for your situation.
Get matched with lenders for your Glasgow business
Tell us what your business needs and we will match you with lenders whose criteria fit. No obligation, no cost to start the conversation, and a straight answer about what is realistic for your situation.
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