We can support your materials handling dealership or manufacturer business with smart finance. Our tailored solutions sustainably match your and your customers' vehicle and warehouse equipment needs and help you grow without sacrifice. Contact our experts today and find out how we can help.

 

Are you a dealer?

Please visit our materials handling finance for dealers page

Why choose our materials handling asset finance services

Single and multi-asset financing

You may need finance for anything from a single truck to multiple vehicles for multiple sites. That’s why we offer businesses a wide range of materials handling finance options, from £5,000 to over £10m. 

Personalised service

Choose us and your relationship manager will work with your broker to understand your materials handling equipment sales and finance requirements. They will help structure bespoke solutions and deals. Then our wider team will be on hand with quick underwriting and pay-out.

Simple and quick proposals

Our user-friendly app makes it easy for you to submit your asset finance proposal directly to us. It’s so simple, you can even submit a proposal while you are with a customer. Get in touch for more information.

Materials handling finance FAQs

Have a specific question about our materials handling finance services? Find answers to regular queries below or contact the team today

  • What is materials handling finance?

    What is materials handling finance?

    Materials handling finance involves using forms of asset finance such as leasing, hire purchase, or refinancing to acquire materials handling vehicles and equipment critical to the stability and growth of your business.

    These funds are paid back over the course of your loan, providing stability to your company's cashflow, and removing the budgetary burden of accruing and spending large sums of capital.

    By choosing materials handling asset financing, you can boost productivity, improve your offering, and meet customer expectations, keeping your materials handling business competitive.

    Materials handling finance deals typically use existing assets as collateral for the loan, such as equipment, inventory, buildings, or accounts receivable. Materials handling businesses may also use finance to pay for short-term funding requirements such as paying wages, unexpected costs, or purchasing raw materials.

  • How does materials handling finance work?

    How does materials handling finance work?

    Materials handling finance comes in a range of forms:

    Leasing agreements

    Bespoke materials handling equipment leasing agreements allow you or your customers to rent materials handling equipment over the short or medium term via fixed monthly payments. This form of finance protects you from interest and depreciation, without tying up capital, all while keeping bank finance options open and allowing you to categorise leasing rates as a business expense.

    Hire purchase

    With hire purchase materials handling finance, you or your customers pay monthly instalments and gain the option to own your equipment outright at the end of your payment term. This allows you to retain capital and flexibly optimise your payments to the benefit of your balance sheet.

    Refinancing

    A refinancing deal allows you or your customers to free up capital on existing materials handling assets to pay for new equipment. This allows you to use both assets to scale up your business, spread out the cost of improvements, and access equipment not available under hire purchase and rental agreements, all while being balance-sheet-friendly.

  • Who is materials handling equipment financing for?

    Who is materials handling equipment financing for?

    Materials handling finance is for any business involved in materials handling.

    This includes construction, manufacturing, and transport businesses with warehousing operations. Companies that use forklift trucks, access platforms, and other vehicles and equipment may also benefit, such as manufacturers and heavy industry.

    If you are a dealer or distributor, providing equipment, vehicles, and technologies to your customers on finance offers them increased flexibility and smoother cashflow, alongside a raft of other benefits. Extra payment options may boost your business in kind.

    Materials handling equipment financing is growing in popularity. In the UK, Finance & Leasing Association members have provided £31 billion of finance to business and public sector organisations - a third of all UK investment in machinery, equipment, and software.

  • What are the benefits of materials handling finance?

    What are the benefits of materials handling finance?

    Materials handling finance offers a wide range of benefits to organisations:

    • Simplify cash flow - Materials handling finance enables you or your customers to spend capital elsewhere while still gaining the equipment and vehicles your business needs to succeed. Additionally, interest rates are often fixed, alongside repayments. All this means other business functions do not need to be held back due to the need to save money or protect against interest rate or repayment increases.
    • Stay competitive - Being able to invest in the latest equipment ensures a company can keep pace with customer demands and fend off competition. Allowing it to bring in industry 4.0 innovations like warehouse robotics, artificial intelligence-controlled automation, and digital twins.
    • Reduce business risk - Asset finance lets you or your customers invest in new equipment and thereby reduces the effect of risks such as breakdowns, downtime, maintenance costs and reduced equipment productivity. What's more, failure to pay will only result in the loss of assets.
    • Improve profitability - With a greater amount of higher-quality equipment, you or your customers can increase trade while reducing capital flows and boosting profitability.
    • Smarter accounting - Materials handling equipment financing may allow you to gain a range of accounting and tax benefits compared to purchasing equipment.
  • What are the risks of materials handling finance? Is it safe?

    What are the risks of materials handling finance? Is it safe?

    Materials handling finance can be an effective way of upscaling a business, however there are risks that organisations should be aware of before they commit to a finance plan:

    • If the business cannot afford the payments, they may lose the asset. This can threaten business continuity if the asset is critical.
    • Asset valuations can vary - customers may not gain as much for their assets as anticipated.
    • Materials handling asset finance is not typically used for very-long-term investment - funding for this may be difficult to secure.
  • Is my business eligible for materials handling finance?

    Is my business eligible for materials handling finance?

    Many businesses are eligible for materials handling finance. Typically, they must be able to meet their financial obligations and have sufficient collateral to back the finance.

    To find out whether your business is eligible to offer materials handling finance deals provided and underwritten by Investec, please contact our experts today.

  • What happens at the end of a materials handling finance term?

    What happens at the end of a materials handling finance term?

    The exact requirements for the end of your materials handling finance term depend on the type of term. For minimum and fixed-term financing, you must return your equipment in line with the agreement terms at the end of the minimum or fixed period. For hire purchase finance, you will gain full ownership of the equipment once you have made the final payment.

  • Is an initial consultation free of charge?

    Is an initial consultation free of charge?

    Your initial conversation with us is free of charge, so please give us a call or visit and see how we can help you provide materials handling finance to your customers.

Why choose Investec for materials handling asset finance?

130
years of combined experience within our team
Over £0.5b
lent in the past seven years
17,300
live agreements under our management with 7,500+ clients

Since 1974, Investec has provided smart, bespoke finance solutions to businesses - first to South Africa, and today, the world.

Our global network of experts and range of partnerships provides us with the experience, understanding and ability to provide materials finance solutions which suit your financial requirements.

With our solutions by your side, you can provide materials handling businesses with a range of efficient and dependable solutions that support short, medium, and long-term business growth.

Unleash business potential - talk to our experts today

We keep earning our stripes

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Best Leasing & Asset Finance Provider

4 years running and voted by our Brokers

leasingwold gold awards winner 2021

LeasingWorld Gold Awards 2021

Broker Champion Lessor

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2021 Lending Awards

Best Support for SMEs

City A.M.'s Bank of the Year Award logo

City A.M. Awards

Bank of the Year

2023