Tag: Commercial Finance Broker

Farm Finance & Farmland Loans

Commercial Bridging Loans for Farms from Richmond Asset Finance

As a lender that specialises in providing fast, non-status farm finance and farmland loans, including Commercial Bridging Loans, Richmond Asset Finance can help you develop your agricultural business. 

Agricultural financing is available for the purchase of land, while dedicated farm development facilities are available to provide loans and finance for barn conversions, new build developments and refurbishment projects. Richmond Asset Finance can help with your Commercial Bridging Loans.

Short-term farm and land loans are available to farmers and landowners for any business purpose, provided that you have suitable property (buildings or land) to offer as security (1st or 2nd charge) and a credible plan to repay the loan.

How can telematics improve your commercial fleet’s efficiency?

Installing telematics in your business’ commercial vehicles could help to significantly improve your fleet’s performance and efficiency.

Telematics are small boxes that are fitted inside commercial vehicles to collect valuable data and information.

This information can then be used by your business to monitor vehicle and driver performance.

Just some of the information and data that can be monitored using telematics includes:

  • Fuel consumption
  • Speed
  • Driving patterns
  • Routes taken
  • Vehicle performance

You can then work together with your fleet drivers to make changes to the way they work in order to improve performance in several key areas including:

Efficiency – Telematics can be used to help drivers to work more efficiently by choosing the fastest routes and avoiding traffic. A more efficient fleet will also reduce operating costs by increasing fuel efficiency.

Safety – Telematics can help to flag up unsafe driving habits including harsh breaking or accelerating and speeding. Ensuring that your drivers are driving safely can help to reduce costly damage to vehicles and the risk of accidents occurring. 

Vehicle performance and maintenance – Set up your telematics to send alerts about your vehicles’ performance to help you to keep on top of maintenance tasks to reduce the need for repairs and keep your vehicles running smoothly.

Operating costs – By honing driver and vehicle performance using the data gathered by telematics you could significantly reduce your fleet’s overall operating costs. This is achieved primarily by improving fuel efficiency, reducing the number of accidents, and keeping up with vehicle maintenance.

Driver job satisfaction – Telematics provide fleet drivers with the data they need to perform better in their jobs. Providing your drivers with modern telematics technology can help to make their jobs easier and more rewarding, resulting in happier, more productive employees.

If you require financial help or advice with updating your commercial fleet, speak to our team here at Richmond Asset Finance by giving us a call on 0113 288 3277. We provide a range of flexible vehicle finance and asset finance services.

Financial incentives for switching to electric commercial vehicles

Did you know that there are financial incentives available to help your business make the switch to cost-effective and environmentally friendly electric vehicles?

There is no time like the present to begin doing your part in looking after our planet and helping to tackle climate change.

There are many changes that businesses can make to become more socially and environmentally responsible. But for businesses that operate commercial vehicles, switching from petrol or diesel to electric vehicles is a good place to start.

Electric vehicles are virtually silent and emit zero emissions, so making the switch will go a long way in reducing your business’ carbon footprint.

Aside from the environmental benefits, there are also plenty of financial incentives out there to reward businesses that decide to make the switch, so what’s not to like?

Low running and maintenance costs

As well as looking after our environment, operating electric vehicles can help to look after your business’ finances too. Whilst electric vehicles can be more expensive to buy, this cost is offset by their comparatively low running and maintenance costs, making them a cost-effective option in the long term.

Tax incentives

Here are a few of the tax benefits that your business may be able to benefit from if it uses electric vehicles.

  • Enhanced capital allowance benefits– Claim the entire cost of the vehicle against taxable profits.
  • Exemptionsfrom the following:
  • fuel duty
  • vehicle excise duty
  • company car tax

Government grants

When purchasing an eligible electric vehicle for your business, you may be able to claim a discount using the government’s plug-in car grant.

Despite the grant’s name, it provides discounts for business’ purchasing electric cars, vans, motorcycles, mopeds, taxis and trucks, providing they are on the eligible vehicles list.

The grant is worth 35% of the vehicle price for electric cars (up to a maximum of £3,500) and 20% of the vehicle price for electric vans (up to a maximum of £8,000).

Finance

Need further help financing one or more commercial electric vehicles? Here at Richmond Asset Finance we provide a range of flexible vehicle finance and asset finance services to help you grow your business. 

For more information about our services, or to discuss your requirements in more detail, give our team a call on 0113 288 3277.

Why are so many UK farmers choosing to diversify?

In today’s uncertain economic climate, many UK farmers are choosing to diversify their businessto boost their income.

Government figures show that 62% of UK farmers are now diversifying into other business opportunities to top up the income they make from traditional farming.

According to Farming UK, of the 62% of farmers that have diversified, 94% of the schemes have been financially successful.

So, if you’re not yet diversifying, it may be worth doing some research and speaking with an expert about rural finance to find out if you can get some help with financing your diversification scheme.

Why diversify?

With over half of those farmers diversifying reporting that the income from their alternative business has become ‘vital’ or ‘significant’ to their farm, can farmers afford not to diversify?

Key factors that are pushing farmers in the UK to diversify include:

  • Disease in farm animals.
  • Increased competition.
  • Falling price of milk.
  • Subsidies falling away.
  • Brexit uncertainty.

As with any business, it makes sense for farmers to avoid putting all their eggs in one basket (excuse the pun).

With many farmers owning a substantial amount of land, it makes good business sense that they use all land and buildings owned to their full advantage. Diversifying into alternative markets like leisure and tourism and renewable energy allows farmers to boost their income.

Rural finance to aid diversification

To find out if you can apply for rural finance to help with your diversification scheme, get in touch with our team here at Richmond Asset Finance to discuss your plan in more detail.

3 Reasons Why You Should Use A Commercial Finance Broker

Business owners can often be afraid to look at alternative routes for their finance needs but there is a lot to be gained from using a commercial finance broker to get the best finance deals.

Here are 3 reasons why your business should consider using a finance broker

You can get access to better rates

You shop around for everything else so why not shop around for the best rates on finance? A commercial broker can often obtain special rates from lenders because they will generally have good long term relationships with them. They can also help with paperwork to ensure you give yourself the best chance of securing the finance you need.

They are experts
Commercial finance brokers that have the relevant qualifications and accreditations are experts in their field. Using experts in anything will save you time and sourcing the best finance products is no different.

Save Yourself Time
We are all growing accustomed to just going online and searching for deals for anything from shopping to houses but finance is different. The various products available could never fit on one price comparison website so it could take a huge amount of time for you to try to beat the rate your commercial finance broker can provide.