Complete this online form with details of your enquiry and one of our advisors will call you back.
Sheds and storage units are foundational assets within UK horticultural and nursery businesses.
While they may appear less complex than machinery or automation, effective storage infrastructure
plays a critical role in productivity, compliance, biosecurity and asset protection.
Horticultural operations manage a wide range of valuable items on a daily basis — from machinery,
tools and irrigation equipment to growing media, fertilisers, packaging materials and plant stock.
Without appropriate, well-designed storage, businesses face increased losses, inefficiencies,
health and safety risks and avoidable operational disruption.
At Gable Business Finance, we arrange asset-backed finance for sheds and storage
units used exclusively by horticultural and nursery businesses. These structures are typically
long-life, high-value infrastructure assets that are ideally suited to structured finance,
allowing businesses to invest in capacity and organisation without restricting working capital.
Horticultural and nursery businesses operate complex sites with constant movement of materials,
equipment and stock. Storage infrastructure underpins this activity by providing safe, organised
and accessible locations for essential assets.
Sheds and storage units support a wide range of core functions, including:
Well-planned storage reduces downtime, improves workflow and protects asset value across the
entire business.
Storage requirements in horticulture differ significantly from general warehousing or
industrial settings. Items stored are often sensitive to moisture, temperature and contamination,
and many must be segregated for safety or compliance reasons.
Key challenges include:
Purpose-built sheds and storage units designed for horticultural use address these challenges
far more effectively than ad-hoc or temporary solutions.
Most horticultural businesses operate multiple storage structures, each tailored to a specific
function. Investment decisions are often driven by operational bottlenecks or compliance needs.
These sheds house tractors, loaders, groundcare vehicles and trailers, protecting them from
weather exposure and extending asset life. Secure access and adequate space are essential for
safe movement and maintenance.
Dedicated storage for compost, bark, substrates, fertilisers and packaging materials helps
maintain quality and reduce waste. Covered, dry environments are critical.
Crop protection products and fuels require compliant storage with appropriate ventilation,
containment and security. Purpose-built units support regulatory compliance and risk management.
Some nurseries use sheds or covered units for short-term plant staging, hardening-off or
pre-dispatch holding, protecting stock from adverse weather.
Horticultural sheds and storage units vary widely in design and specification. Key factors that
influence cost and suitability include:
Many businesses also design storage infrastructure to allow future expansion as operations grow.
While sheds may appear straightforward, professional horticultural storage infrastructure
represents a significant capital investment. Costs are driven by:
Despite the cost, these assets deliver long-term value by protecting machinery, reducing losses
and improving operational efficiency.
As long-life, site-specific infrastructure assets, sheds and storage units are particularly well
suited to asset-backed finance.
Asset finance allows horticultural businesses to invest in essential storage capacity without
diverting large amounts of working capital away from production, labour and seasonal inputs.
Key benefits include:
This approach is particularly effective where storage investment unlocks wider productivity
gains.
Hire purchase can be used where the structure qualifies as a financeable asset, with ownership
secured over time.
Loans may be used to support construction, groundworks and associated infrastructure.
Storage units are often financed alongside machinery, renewables or irrigation systems under
a coordinated funding strategy.
Storage requirements often peak during planting, harvest and dispatch periods, when space is
at a premium. Finance planning should consider:
An ornamental nursery invested in a purpose-built machinery shed financed through structured
funding. Protected storage reduced breakdowns, extended asset life and improved site safety.
A soft fruit business financed a dry storage unit for packaging materials. Improved protection
reduced waste and supported higher packing throughput during peak season.
A propagation nursery invested in segregated storage units for inputs and tools. Finance enabled
compliance upgrades and reduced cross-contamination risk.
A tree nursery financed additional storage sheds to support fleet expansion. Improved
organisation reduced downtime and improved logistics across the site.
A nursery group used structured finance to roll out consistent storage units across sites,
simplifying management and supporting scalable growth.
At Gable Business Finance, we understand that storage infrastructure underpins every
aspect of horticultural operations.
Our advisory-led approach focuses on:
We structure finance so that investment in sheds and storage units strengthens efficiency,
resilience and long-term productivity.
If your horticultural or nursery business is planning to invest in sheds or storage units for
equipment, stock or materials, specialist finance advice can help you proceed strategically
and with confidence.
Contact Gable Business Finance today to discuss tailored finance solutions designed
around your storage requirements and long-term business plans.