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Gable Business Finance provides specialist funding solutions to help UK farmers and agricultural businesses invest in the refrigeration and cold-storage systems essential for today’s food-production standards. Whether you operate a dairy farm, poultry unit, crop storage facility, abattoir, meat-processing plant, or food distribution operation, the right cold-chain infrastructure is vital for quality, safety, productivity, and compliance.
Refrigeration is no longer an optional investment for UK farming — it is a critical component of food safety, product longevity, market competitiveness, and regulatory compliance. As consumer expectations rise, supply chains become more sophisticated, and environmental conditions become more unpredictable, agricultural businesses increasingly rely on dependable, efficient refrigeration units.
Across the agricultural sector, refrigeration units serve vital functions including:
Gable Business Finance specialises in providing flexible funding structures to help agricultural producers finance the refrigeration technology they need without sacrificing cash flow or delaying investment. From walk-in chillers to controlled atmosphere storage, the right equipment improves efficiency, boosts profitability, and supports long-term sustainability.
UK farming businesses use a broad range of temperature-control systems to preserve produce and meet regulatory standards. Below is a breakdown of common refrigeration systems that Gable Business Finance helps clients fund, along with their applications across the sector.
Walk-in cold rooms are widely used across fresh-produce farms, meat-processing operations, abattoirs, dairies, egg farms, and horticultural facilities. These insulated rooms provide precise temperature control — typically between +1°C and +8°C for chillers — to keep produce safe and maintain freshness.
Customisable features include:
These systems are ideal for farms scaling production, extending shelf life, or meeting supermarket cold-storage requirements.
Mobile units — including refrigerated trailers, vans, and truck-mounted chillers — play a vital role in maintaining the cold chain during transport. They are essential for farms delivering produce directly to markets, wholesalers, retailers, or processing facilities.
Mobile refrigeration helps maintain temperature integrity while providing flexibility in logistics, direct-to-market sales, and multi-site operations.
Dairy farms depend on rapid cooling to maintain milk quality immediately after collection. Modern milk silos and cooling tanks use direct expansion cooling systems to rapidly bring milk to safe storage temperatures and preserve protein integrity.
These systems often include:
A high-quality refrigeration system is essential for meeting the hygiene and temperature standards required by UK dairy processors.
Immediately removing “field heat” from produce after harvest is essential to slow down decay and extend shelf life. Pre-cooling systems are used extensively in fruit farms, vegetable operations, salad producers, and horticultural businesses.
Types of pre-cooling systems include:
Hydrocoolers use cold water to rapidly cool delicate produce such as berries, grapes, cherries, and some vegetables. They are ideal for soft fruits that benefit from fast heat extraction without airflow exposure.
Forced-air systems draw cold air through pallets, crates, or boxes to cool produce evenly. These are widely used for fruits, root vegetables, brassicas, and mixed crops.
Vacuum cooling is a highly efficient method for leafy greens, herbs, and tender vegetables. By reducing atmospheric pressure, heat is rapidly drawn out of plant tissue, significantly extending freshness.
CA and MA storage technologies help regulate oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen levels — dramatically extending storage times from weeks to several months. They are widely used for long-term storage of apples, pears, root crops, onions, brassicas, and more.
Benefits include:
Although not always refrigerated, insulated ambient rooms maintain stable temperatures between +10°C and +30°C for processing, sorting, packing, and curing. These are useful for crops such as potatoes, onions, and certain fruits — as well as meat, dairy, and poultry prep areas.
Many farms are now upgrading to eco-friendly refrigeration using:
Gable Business Finance increasingly supports farmers in financing energy-efficient, sustainable refrigeration that reduces long-term operating costs.
Specialist equipment finance allows farmers to acquire essential refrigeration units without large upfront capital expenditure. Gable Business Finance provides tailored solutions that suit the seasonal cash flow typical of UK agriculture.
Hire Purchase allows agricultural businesses to spread the cost of refrigeration equipment over fixed monthly instalments. At the end of the agreement, ownership transfers to the business.
Benefits of HP:
Leasing enables farms to access the latest refrigeration technology with minimal upfront cost. The finance provider owns the equipment during the term, and the farmer pays fixed rental payments.
Benefits of leasing:
Traditional loans can be used to acquire refrigeration units, with the equipment itself typically serving as collateral. This often provides competitive interest rates and flexible repayment options.
Farms that already own valuable machinery or equipment can refinance those assets to release capital. This can be used to purchase new refrigeration units or expand facilities.
Because many agricultural operations have uneven revenue throughout the year, Gable offers seasonal repayment schedules that align with harvest and income cycles.
This allows farmers to invest in refrigeration infrastructure when they need it most while preserving liquidity during off-peak periods.
Gable Business Finance is one of the UK’s most trusted independent providers of specialist agricultural finance. Through our team of dedicated finance experts and our panel of specialist lenders, we tailor funding packages to the unique demands of farming and food production.
You benefit from:
Whether you require a single refrigeration unit or an entire cold-storage infrastructure upgrade, Gable Business Finance can help you fund it quickly and affordably.
A family-run dairy farm in Shropshire needed to upgrade its outdated milk cooling system to meet new processor standards. The farmers were facing temperature inconsistencies that threatened milk quality and collection schedules.
Using Hire Purchase finance through Gable, they invested in a new stainless steel cooling tank with automated agitation and monitoring. The upgrade reduced bacterial counts, improved milk quality, and increased production capacity by 20%.
A Herefordshire apple orchard wanted to store produce for extended periods to avoid seasonal price dips. Gable provided a finance lease that enabled installation of Controlled Atmosphere storage rooms.
The orchard extended storage time from four weeks to nearly four months, significantly increasing market flexibility and revenue.
An organic grower in Lincolnshire required hydrocoolers and forced-air systems to extend freshness when supplying major supermarkets. Gable structured a seasonal repayment plan aligned with harvest cycles.
The investment reduced post-harvest losses by 30% and secured long-term retail contracts.
A Midlands abattoir struggled with rising energy consumption and inconsistent temperatures. With Gable’s financing support, they installed new energy-efficient chillers and automated monitoring.
The upgrade reduced energy usage by 18% and improved compliance with UK meat-safety standards.
A poultry farm in Kent needed mobile chilled trailers to support its on-site processing operation. Gable arranged a flexible leasing option that included maintenance coverage through a bundled package.
The farm improved turnaround times, expanded distribution routes, and increased sales by 15%.
A Cambridgeshire crops business required insulated ambient rooms for sorting, grading, and packing root vegetables. Through asset finance, Gable funded the full project including installation.
The farm improved operational efficiency, reduced product damage, and streamlined workflow during peak harvest periods.
A North Yorkshire farm shop needed walk-in chillers to support its expanding retail and delivery business. Through Gable’s flexible finance lease, they acquired two walk-in rooms and a display refrigeration system.
This enabled increased product lines, better stock rotation, and improved food safety for customers.
You can finance walk-in chillers, freezers, milk tanks, hydrocoolers, forced-air coolers, vacuum coolers, CA storage, mobile refrigeration units, ambient rooms, and more.
Yes. Gable Business Finance can fund new, used, or refurbished refrigeration equipment.
Yes. Many funding packages can include installation, delivery, and setup costs.
We work with dairy farms, crop growers, fruit producers, abattoirs, meat processors, horticultural businesses, poultry units, and many more.
Typical terms range from 1 to 7 years depending on equipment age, type, and your preferences.
Absolutely. We offer flexible payment schedules aligned with agricultural income cycles.
Yes. We can help you structure agreements that allow upgrades or early settlements.
Yes. We can help structure finance around grants such as those previously offered under the Farming Investment Fund or other government schemes.
Many applications receive approval within 24–48 hours, depending on complexity.
Simply contact the Gable Business Finance team for a no-obligation consultation and tailored quote.