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At Gable Asset Finance, we specialise in offering tailored financial solutions for
smallholding businesses, plant nurseries, and garden centres across the UK.
Whether you’re a family running a small mixed farm, a wholesale nursery supplying plants to the retail sector,
or a large garden centre with an on-site café and retail offering, we can provide the
finance, loans, hire purchase (HP), and lease finance that you need to grow and thrive.
Garden centres in the UK are more than retail hubs—they are community spaces, seasonal destinations, and
increasingly, leisure attractions. The modern garden centre often features a café, play area, and gift shop
alongside its core plant and gardening stock. Many customers treat a visit as a day out, making this sector
particularly resilient in times of retail uncertainty.
The expansion of product lines beyond plants into gifts, furniture, and food has made garden centres
profitable all year round, reducing reliance on spring and summer peaks. However, such diversification
requires substantial investment in retail fit-outs, catering equipment, refrigeration units, and additional staff.
This is where finance plays a crucial role.
Plant nurseries are at the heart of the UK’s horticultural industry, providing the raw stock that
garden centres, landscapers, and even public sector contracts rely upon. Unlike garden centres, nurseries
focus on production and cultivation rather than retail.
Nurseries often need to invest in propagation facilities, irrigation systems, heating,
polytunnels, and automated machinery to remain competitive. With growing pressures from
imports and demand for sustainability, finance solutions enable nurseries to scale up, modernise,
and adopt environmentally friendly technology such as biomass boilers or solar panels.
A smallholding is typically less than 50 acres, bridging the gap between a hobby garden and a full-scale farm.
Many smallholders combine different revenue streams: growing crops, rearing poultry or sheep, producing honey,
or running holiday lets. Financing is often essential to make these mixed models sustainable.
For example, a smallholder may need to invest in tractors, polytunnels, renewable energy,
or livestock housing but lack the capital to fund these upfront. Asset finance allows them to
spread the cost and grow incrementally without overstretching.
HP agreements are perfect for businesses that want to own the asset outright at the end of
the agreement. You make fixed monthly payments until the cost is fully repaid. Common uses include
tractors, vans, cold rooms, and heavy equipment.
Benefits include predictable repayments, ownership at the end, and eligibility for capital allowances
to reduce tax liability.
A finance lease gives your business full use of an asset, with repayments spread across its working life.
At the end of the term, you may be able to extend the lease or upgrade. Ideal for equipment that becomes
obsolete quickly, such as EPOS systems, IT equipment, or retail displays.
Operating leases are similar but designed for shorter-term use. They’re especially helpful for
seasonal businesses that may only need equipment during peak periods.
Loans can provide working capital for staff wages, stock purchases, or expansion projects.
Unlike asset finance, these loans don’t require the asset itself as security, though creditworthiness is important.
If you already own valuable assets like tractors or retail equipment, you can refinance them to release equity.
This is useful for paying down debts, funding expansion, or improving cash flow.
A garden centre in Yorkshire wanted to expand its footprint by adding a café and children’s play area.
Gable arranged a finance lease for catering equipment and a loan for
refurbishment. Within a year, visitor numbers increased by 40%, with revenue up 25%.
A nursery in Norfolk required automated irrigation and heating systems to reduce costs and
improve plant survival. Gable secured an asset finance package, enabling them to increase
production while reducing labour costs by 20%.
A smallholding in Devon diversified into holiday lets. Gable provided a secured loan
against the land, allowing construction of three eco-friendly cabins. The new income stream
contributed 60% of their annual revenue within two years.
A garden centre in Scotland refinanced existing tractors and delivery vans, releasing capital to fund
new stock ranges and marketing campaigns. Sales rose by 18% over 12 months.
Yes. We work with start-ups, including new smallholdings and nurseries, and can often secure
funding based on business plans and forecasts.
Absolutely. Many small businesses benefit from high-quality used equipment, and we can
arrange finance to cover both new and used purchases.
Terms can often be tailored to your cash flow. For example, seasonal payment schedules
can align repayments with peak trading months.
No. We specialise in supporting businesses of all sizes, from small family-run
holdings to large retail garden centres.
We work with a panel of specialist lenders across the UK who understand the agricultural
and horticultural sectors, offering competitive and flexible terms.
Whether you’re running a retail-focused garden centre, managing a wholesale nursery,
or operating a mixed smallholding, finance can be the key to sustainable growth.
From asset finance and hire purchase to loans and refinancing,
Gable Asset Finance provides the tools to unlock your business’s potential.
Ready to explore your finance options? Contact Gable Asset Finance today
for a free, no-obligation consultation about how we can support your nursery, garden centre, or smallholding.