Takeaway funding: finance for UK takeaways and fast food businesses
Takeaway revenue arrives daily, by card, cash and delivery app, and lenders read it from the bank and card statements; each lender makes its own decision on what it sees. Funding for a takeaway usually means one of four things: replacing equipment that died mid-service, a refit, expanding into delivery, or smoothing a seasonal dip.
The routes below are set out by the situations takeaways actually hit, along with what lenders look for. We work with UK limited companies and LLPs only, for business and commercial purposes.
What can a takeaway use funding for?
Anything with a business purpose. In practice it is usually equipment (fryers, ovens, refrigeration, urgent because a dead fryer stops trading), refits and extraction work, delivery expansion, or working capital across the quiet months.
The table shows which route takeaways typically use for each need; the lender decides, the published criteria on each product page say who it will consider, and the choice of route is yours.
| Need | Route typically used | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Fryer, oven or fridge failed | Equipment funding | The fryer, oven or fridge is the security for the finance |
| Refit or extraction upgrade | Term loan or refurbishment funding | Larger amount, repaid over the improvement’s life |
| Delivery platform expansion | Working capital | Short-term outlay before platform revenue builds |
How do lenders assess a takeaway?
Lenders assess a takeaway on its card takings and bank statements (typically the last three to six months) plus time trading. Card and bank records are verifiable: a lender can see the daily pattern directly. Cash that never reaches the bank account is harder for a lender to count, and each lender decides how it treats card, cash and delivery-app revenue.
Delivery-platform revenue (Just Eat, Uber Eats, Deliveroo) counts too, but lenders treat it distinctly from in-store card takings because platforms pay on their own settlement cycles. Statements showing both streams give the fullest picture.
Will lenders actually look at a takeaway?
More than the sector's reputation suggests. Some commercial mortgage lenders will lend against take-away premises, and kitchen kit is easier still: fryers and ovens are assets a funder can take back, and some asset lenders will fund used machines, which is how most fryer and oven replacements actually get bought.
The small unsecured amounts a takeaway usually wants are a common request, and each lender sets its own minimum, term and pricing. Smaller loans tend to cost more per pound borrowed than larger ones, which is not the same as saying borrow more.
Two criteria decide most takeaway declines before pricing is ever discussed: how long the shop has traded and whether a director owns a home. Some unsecured lenders will look at a business trading under a year and some do not require a homeowning director, so a new shop with a renting director is not shut out, but the list it goes to is a specific one.
The three shapes a takeaway borrows in
Fit-out first. New extraction, a serving counter, tiling and the electrics for a bigger kitchen are spend that vanishes into the walls, so a lender funds it against the takings as an unsecured term loan, priced on the accounts and the term. Where the counter and the display fridges are invoiced separately, some lenders will treat a shop fit-out as an asset.
Kit second. Fryers, a pizza oven, refrigeration and an extraction canopy are all assets a funder can take back, so asset lenders read the file differently: some will fund used machines, some defer the VAT and some accept business adverse credit. A delivery van belongs in the same shape, on hire purchase or a lease.
Cash flow third. January and February are thin for most takeaways and the rent, the wages and the supplier account do not move, so the gap is short-term working capital, which some shops meet with a small unsecured loan over months rather than years. A shop that takes most of its money through a delivery app should say so up front, because lenders read platform payouts separately from in-store takings.
What a premises lender is and is not judging
A lender that lends against take-away premises is looking at the building, not the trade: a fish and chip shop on a lease is never underwritten that way. The kitchen kit is judged as an asset and the working capital on the accounts, and lenders differ on how they read revenue that arrives by card, cash or a delivery app.
How many takeaways there are, and the rates change from April 2026
The ONS counted 45,355 VAT or PAYE registered enterprises under take-away food shops and mobile food stands in the UK at March 2025, up 1,345 on the 44,010 of March 2024 and above the 43,620 of 2023. That is a larger count than licensed restaurants (31,615) or cafes (28,170) on the same release, and 41,400 of the 45,355 employ fewer than 10 people (ONS ad hoc 3495, 24 June 2026). It is a trade of single-site owners.
Takeaways are named on the gov.uk list of qualifying uses for the new retail, hospitality and leisure multipliers in England. From 1 April 2026 a qualifying property with a rateable value under £51,000 pays 38.2p in the pound, 5p below the small business multiplier, in place of the 40% relief that applied in 2025/26 with its £110,000 cap per business (gov.uk guidance updated 30 March 2026, read 9 September 2026). Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own reliefs. The rates saving is small next to a fryer, but a lender reads a forecast line by line and an up-to-date one reads better.
What does takeaway funding cost?
Cost depends on product, amount, term and the business’s trading profile, so ranges quoted without seeing statements are guesses. A real quote with a total repayment figure is the number to work from; judge it against what the funding earns, a replacement fryer that restores full service pays for itself differently than a refit whose payback runs over years. Any quote that comes back through us states the total cost as one fixed number before you decide anything.
The panel behind this page
We have access to a range of UK commercial finance lenders through our principal, White Rose Finance Group Limited. Where the plan involves buying or refinancing the premises, some commercial mortgage lenders lend against take-aways. We check criteria first and approach only the lenders whose requirements you fit.
Frequently asked questions
Can a takeaway get funding with mostly cash revenue?
Yes, though lenders size an offer on the revenue they can verify, which means bank deposits and card takings, so cash revenue that never reaches the account does not count towards it. Each lender decides how it treats cash takings and makes its own decision on the case.
How fast can a takeaway get equipment replaced through funding?
Decision and payout timing is set by each lender, and speed depends mostly on how quickly bank and card statements are supplied. If equipment failure has stopped part of your service, say so, timelines can be checked against the urgency before you commit to anything.
Does Just Eat or Uber Eats revenue count for funding applications?
Yes. Delivery platform payouts visible in bank statements count as revenue, though lenders treat them separately from in-store card takings because platforms settle on their own cycles. Providing both merchant statements and bank statements gives lenders the full revenue picture.
Can I get a business loan for a takeaway?
Yes. A takeaway loan is priced on the takings, the accounts and the term, and some unsecured lenders proceed without a homeowning director, so renting is a narrower field rather than a closed one.
Can I finance a delivery van for the takeaway?
On hire purchase or a lease, yes: light commercial vehicles are mainstream security for asset finance, and some lenders will fund a vehicle bought from a private seller rather than a dealer. The van is the security, and the lender assesses it alongside the accounts.
What does takeaway equipment finance cover?
Fryers, ovens, refrigeration and extraction, new or used. Some asset lenders take older machinery, and some will lend against kit to a shop that made a loss in its last accounts. Enquiring does not affect your credit score. If you apply to a lender, it runs its own credit search, which may be recorded on your file.
Is CapExpand FCA regulated?
CapExpand Ltd (FRN 1060885) is a credit broker and an Appointed Representative of White Rose Finance Group Limited (FRN 630772), which is directly authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We are a broker, not a lender. We work with UK limited companies and LLPs only, for business and commercial purposes. Both firms appear on the Financial Services Register at register.fca.org.uk. We do not give advice.
Sources
Sector figures read on 9 September 2026.
- ONS: food services by employment size, UK, 2023 to 2025 (ad hoc 3495, 24 June 2026)
- Gov.uk: business rates multipliers for qualifying retail, hospitality or leisure properties
- Gov.uk: Budget 2025 retail, hospitality and leisure factsheet
- The Insolvency Service: company insolvency statistics
- British Business Bank: Small Business Finance Markets 2025/26
Start a takeaway finance enquiry
3-minute form, and enquiring does not affect your credit score. If you apply to a lender, it runs its own credit search, which may be recorded on your file. Reviewed by a named case handler.
You speak to a person who looks at your numbers; nothing is submitted anywhere until you say so.
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