The benefits of leasing your commercial refrigeration

If your business deals with chilled or frozen food, then reliable commercial refrigeration is essential. 

It ensures the safe storage of ingredients and products in catering and hospitality, retail or food production environments, while maximising freshness and reducing waste.

However, investing in a new commercial fridge can be expensive – especially at a time of spiralling energy prices and the ongoing cost of living crisis, which is hitting consumers and businesses hard. 

While budget units are available, kitting out a food or drink business with the right equipment can still strain your profit margins. So, what’s the solution? 

Is there any way to avoid the high up-front costs of purchasing a new commercial fridge? Fortunately, there is. 

The advantages of commercial fridge leasing

When it comes to investing in commercial refrigeration, buying outright isn’t your only option. 

If you’re on the lookout for a new unit – or a replacement or upgrade – and budgets are tight, you can still get the right fridge or freezer for your food business without breaking the bank.

By leasing instead of buying, you can reduce your initial outlay, spread the cost of ownership over several years and not have to worry about any potentially expensive maintenance or repairs. 

It means you can also -get your hands on the latest energy-efficient models, which can help reduce your business’s carbon footprint and operational costs.

So, if you’re considering investing in new commercial refrigeration equipment, here are some reasons you might want to lease instead. 

Optimise your cash flow

Leasing a commercial fridge instead of buying it outright means you don’t have to find the unit’s total cost up-front. 

It means you don’t have to shell out hundreds – or even thousands – of pounds in one go and, instead, can spread your payments over a set number of smaller monthly instalments, so you don’t absorb the full financial hit in one shot. 

This is advantageous for two reasons – firstly, it allows you to better forecast and manage your monthly finances. And it enables you to retain more of the cash you would otherwise have spent up-front on buying the unit. 

Avoid ongoing maintenance costs

Once you buy a commercial fridge, it’s your responsibility to ensure it’s maintained, serviced and repaired. If you lease a unit, it will usually be the leasing company’s responsibility to service and repair it, although this will be set out in the leasing agreement. This can help you avoid any expensive or unforeseen repairs. 

It’s also worth bearing in mind that once you’ve bought a commercial fridge, it can be a major hassle to resell it if you need to raise some extra cash. 

Avoid loan or interest charges

Many food businesses take out small bank loans or borrow money to purchase new equipment. While this often makes sense from a cash flow perspective, many companies don’t realise that it can work out more costly in the long run when interest on repayments is considered. 

While leases also incur interest, it’s often lower than what a commercial lender would charge on a loan, which means you can benefit from lower monthly payments. 

Repayments can be tailored to suit your budget over two to five years, so you always know how much you will pay each month. They are also 100% tax deductible. 

Ownership at the end of the term

Often, business owners are sceptical about leasing because they want to ‘own’ the fridge or freezer they are investing so much money into. 

However, the final payment gives you outright ownership at the end of the lease term, provided all the terms and conditions and payments are fulfilled throughout the contract.

This means you benefit from using the commercial fridge while you’re paying down the lease, and it’s yours to do with as you please at the end. 

Reduced operational costs

As with most things technology-related, newer commercial refrigeration equipment is invariably more energy-efficient than older units. 

This not only helps reduce your business’s energy consumption and carbon emissions but can also help lower its operating costs – which can be a godsend in the current economic climate. 

If you can’t afford to invest in newer, more energy-efficient refrigeration right now and would have to save up instead, leasing is a viable option for obtaining new units which help enhance sustainability while lowering your utility costs. 

FCA approved

The Financial Conduct Authority regulations make certain that customers are protected by rigorous standards and guidelines to ensure you get a competitive deal. It means you can lease suitable and reasonably priced equipment with fair and transparent leasing terms. 

Interested in leasing a commercial fridge? 

If you’re interested in leasing a commercial fridge or freezer but aren’t sure where to start, we’re here to help. Fridgesmart is FCA-approved, and so are our leasing partners, who we have worked with for decades. So, you can trust us to help you find the right fridge or freezer for your business at a price point that suits your budget. For more information, visit our leasing page to get started, or call us on 01792 677169.