Hospitality Finance UK
Hospitality is a cash flow business. I’ve been helping bars, restaurants and hotels fix that for 30 years.
I’m Mark Smillie. If you run a restaurant, pub, hotel or café, you’ll know that the money doesn’t come in steadily. It comes in waves. A good Saturday covers a quiet Tuesday. A strong summer carries a slow January. And somewhere in between, the suppliers still want paying, the staff still need their wages, and the VAT bill doesn’t care what your footfall was last week.
Mainstream lenders don’t really understand that. They look at your accounts, see the seasonality and the tight margins, and get nervous. The hospitality sector has always been underserved by traditional finance, and that was before rising energy costs, increased employer National Insurance and the pressures on consumer spending made the trading environment even tighter than it already was.
The right finance for a hospitality business isn’t a standard business loan with fixed monthly repayments that take no account of your quieter months. It’s a facility that fits the way your business actually works. That’s what I find for you.
The finance challenges hospitality businesses actually face
You don’t need me to list them. You’re living them. Stock that has to be paid for before it generates a penny of revenue. Kitchen equipment that fails at the worst possible moment. A refurbishment you need to do to stay competitive but can’t fund from cash reserves. A summer season that needs upfront investment three months before it pays back. A good week that still isn’t enough to cover a slow month’s overheads.
The businesses I help in hospitality aren’t struggling. Most of them are trading well. They just need finance that’s structured around their reality rather than a bank’s template.
Hospitality finance I can arrange for you
Merchant cash advance
This is one of the best-fit products for hospitality businesses and one of the least well-known. If your business takes card payments, a merchant cash advance lets you borrow against your future card takings. Repayment is taken automatically as a percentage of your daily card transactions, so in a quiet week you repay less and in a busy week you repay more. No fixed monthly payment, no personal guarantee required in most cases, and funds can often be in your account within 48 hours. If your business runs on card sales, this is worth understanding before you look at anything else.
Working capital loans
Short and mid term facilities to cover the gaps between revenue coming in and outgoings going out. Wages, stock, utilities, supplier invoices. A working capital loan gives you the breathing room to manage seasonal dips without cutting corners or falling behind on payments.
Restaurant and kitchen equipment finance
Spreading the cost of a new kitchen fit-out, commercial catering equipment, or a full restaurant refurbishment over time rather than paying upfront. The asset is usually the security, which keeps the personal risk low and the monthly cost predictable.
Hotel refurbishment and renovation loans
Planning a major renovation, an extension, or a significant upgrade to bring the property up to the standard your guests expect? Refurbishment finance lets you make the investment now and repay it over a period that reflects the return the renovation generates.
Invoice finance
If you supply corporate clients, event catering, or B2B hospitality services and you’re raising invoices rather than taking immediate payment, invoice finance lets you draw against those unpaid invoices rather than waiting 30 or 60 days for them to settle.
Emergency business finance
Boiler fails in January. Key equipment breaks down the week before a major booking. A supplier demands early settlement. Sometimes you need cash quickly and the usual timelines don’t work. I have lenders who can move fast when the situation demands it.
84% acceptance rate. And I know which lenders actually back hospitality businesses.
70% of hospitality businesses that apply direct for finance get turned down. Mine get accepted 84% of the time, because I only go to lenders I already know are the right fit.
The difference in hospitality finance isn’t just which lender you approach. It’s how you present the business. Seasonal revenue looks alarming on a bank statement if you don’t explain it properly. A quiet January looks like a crisis if the lender doesn’t understand that February and March are already booked solid. I know how to package a hospitality business finance application so the lender sees the full picture, not just the worst month.
From first call to funds: typically five to ten days for most facilities. Merchant cash advances can move faster. It costs you nothing. I’m paid by the lender when a deal completes.
Bad credit or been turned down before?
It doesn’t automatically close the door.
Merchant cash advance lending is based on your card turnover, not your credit score. If your business is taking consistent card payments, there are lenders who will advance against that regardless of your credit history. Invoice finance is based on the quality of your invoices and your clients. Asset finance is secured against the equipment itself.
I regularly arrange hospitality finance for businesses with CCJs, previous difficulties, or applications rejected elsewhere. Tell me your situation and I’ll tell you honestly what’s available.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between a merchant cash advance and a business loan?
A business loan has a fixed repayment schedule regardless of how the business is trading. A merchant cash advance repays as a percentage of your card sales, so it flexes with your revenue. For a seasonal hospitality business, that flexibility is often worth more than a marginally lower rate on a fixed loan.
Can I get finance to refurbish my restaurant or hotel?
Yes. Refurbishment finance and asset finance are both available for hospitality businesses. The facility can be structured around the scope of the work and the timeline of the return it generates.
Do I need a personal guarantee?
Not necessarily. Merchant cash advance facilities and asset finance arrangements often don’t require a personal guarantee because the security is the card revenue stream or the asset itself. I’ll always look for the option that keeps your personal assets out of it.
How quickly can I get funds?
Merchant cash advances can move in 24 to 48 hours in straightforward cases. Working capital loans and refurbishment finance typically take five to ten days. I’ll give you a realistic timeline once I know what you need.
What if my business is seasonal?
That’s not a problem, it’s just a factor I account for when matching you to the right lender and the right product. Merchant cash advances are specifically designed for seasonal businesses because the repayment flexes with your revenue. A fixed-repayment loan during a quiet season is the wrong product. I won’t put you in one.
I’ve been turned down by my bank. Can you still help?
Almost certainly yes. Banks have very limited appetite for hospitality lending. The specialist lenders I work with take a different view, particularly for businesses with consistent card turnover or solid corporate invoice clients.
Ready to get your hospitality business properly funded?
One call. Tell me what you run, what you need and what’s stopped you getting there. I’ll tell you what’s available and what it’ll cost.
No credit checks at this stage. No commitments. No cost.
Or call me directly: 07710 466166
Testimonials from firms like yours:
Group of Engineering Companies
“So good we recommend him to other Companies”
“Mark Smillie is very good at what he does – you can’t fault his helpfulness and inside knowledge on finance companies. We would definitely go back to him again with any business finance requirements and do recommend him to other companies.”
We approached 4 brokers with the same proposition, but it was obvious we should engage with Mark Smillie at Ringrose Business Finance. He was frank and honest about what he could achieve and had a real can-do attitude. With his knowledge and network, we were introduced to a top-notch specialist and our application was successful. Mark’s personal touches before, during and after the process is something you rarely get these days. I can’t recommend Mark highly enough.
“Mark totally exceeded my expectations. He was amazingly responsive to every phone call and email, gave great advice without judgement, and was very honest about my position and how he could help. He introduced me to a wonderful specialist, Leanne, who was very good and delivered the finance I needed. I felt supported by Mark every step of the way, I just don’t have a bad word to say – it was all super smooth!”
“Mark Smillie came up trumps and delivered a finance package in very challenging circumstances. It’s easy to think his success stories are too good to be true, but I now know from experience that he is an approachable, real person that you can speak to directly. His service is excellent and he knows his stuff. We worked with one of his trusted, specialist contacts as part of securing the deal and they scored 10 out of 10 too. Highly recommended.”
“Mark Smillie is very positive and straightforward to work with. He knew exactly who to put us in touch with to get the business finance product we needed. It was a painless process and we are very pleased with the product that was put together for us. We are already recommending his refreshingly personalised service to other businesses.”
“We went to Mark for business finance after being let down by other brokers who promised the world and never delivered. Mark was the first genuine specialist we met, and the only broker who actually did what he said he would. He gets the finer details right. We were introduced to an expert for our particular scenario and successful with finance for our eCommerce business. Mark will listen and advise on the best solution – it may even be one you didn’t know existed. Mightily impressed that he even arranged an independent follow-up call for feedback on his service. No hesitation in recommending Mark.”
“We’re very pleased with the financial solution Mark delivered for us and we still keep the direct relationship with our clients as a result. As a young and growing business, we hadn’t held out much hope of being able to find the support we needed, but having done some research, Mark was confident he could help. He’s definitely the go-to person for invoice finance.”