Scottish refinance specialists with 20 years of banking and finance experience. We release equity from vehicles, plant, machinery and equipment for businesses across Scotland.
Asset refinance is a way for businesses to release cash that is tied up in physical assets they already own. The process works like this: your business sells the asset, a vehicle, a piece of machinery, a piece of plant, to a finance lender. The lender pays you a lump sum for it. You then continue using the asset under a new finance agreement, making monthly payments over an agreed term. At the end of the term, you make a final option-to-purchase payment and the asset is yours again.
The key point is that the finance is secured against the asset itself, not against your property, not against a personal guarantee over your home, and not through a floating charge over your business. There are no solicitors involved, no conveyancing delays, and none of the complications that come with property-based lending. The asset does the work.
For businesses that have built up significant value in their equipment but are facing a cashflow pressure, a tax bill, or an opportunity they cannot fund from reserves, asset refinance is often the fastest and most practical route to capital.
A wide range of assets can be refinanced, and the list is broader than most business owners expect. The most common categories we work with include:
Assets can be owned outright or subject to existing finance, an outstanding finance balance does not prevent you from refinancing. The existing balance is simply settled as part of the refinance payout, and any equity above that balance is released to you.
There is no single reason a business refinances its assets, and there is no wrong one. In our experience, the most common situations are:
Asset refinance in Scotland is a specialist area, and not every broker understands why. Martin Mackenzie has focused on refinance in Scotland for over a decade, and the landscape has changed significantly in recent years. The Moveable Transactions (Scotland) Act 2023, which came into effect in April 2025, has opened the Scottish market to a greater number of lenders by modernising the law around security over moveable assets such as plant and machinery.
Before this change, Scottish title law made it difficult for some lenders to take security over assets in the same way they could in England and Wales. Knowing which lenders operate north of the border, which understand Scottish title law, and which have adapted their processes to the new legislation is essential knowledge that an English broker simply may not have. In practice, a broker based in the south may not discover the limitations of their lender panel until they submit a Scottish application and receive a decline based on geography rather than the quality of the deal. By that point, time has been lost and a credit search may have been registered.
We know the Scottish lender landscape because we work in it every day.
When a refinance enquiry comes in, Martin will have a conversation with you about what you have, what you need, and what the business story is. There are no forms to fill in at this stage, and no credit searches are run without your consent.
Wherever the assets are in Scotland, Martin visits them in person. He inspects them, photographs them, and takes the time to understand what they are, what condition they are in, and what the realistic market value is. He does not rely on desktop valuations or online price guides alone. This matters because lenders lend against market value, and a well-presented asset that has been properly inspected and described gives the lender confidence. A poor proposal based on guessed values gives them reason to decline or reduce the offer.
Having spent years on the lending side preparing credit proposals for submission to underwriting teams, Martin knows what a lender's credit committee needs to see in order to say yes. The proposal he prepares for your refinance reflects that experience, it presents the assets and the business story in the strongest possible light.
Most lenders will advance up to 80% of the asset's market value. Some will go higher for the right deal and the right fit. Where existing finance is in place on the assets, this is settled as part of the refinance payout, with any remaining equity released directly to the business. We will always give you a clear illustration of what the payout will look like before you commit to anything.
Asset refinance involves your business selling an asset to a lender at its current market value. If that market value is higher than the depreciated book value shown in your accounts, this may have tax implications, it can create a chargeable gain or affect your capital allowances position. This is not automatically a problem, and it is not always a charge, but it is something only a qualified, chartered accountant can assess for your specific situation. We always recommend speaking to your accountant before proceeding with a refinance, and we are happy to prepare an illustration of the proposed transaction that they can review.
We are paid a commission by the lender on successful completion of an agreement. Nothing is charged to you before that point. The initial consultation is free, the asset inspection is free, and there is no obligation at any stage. If we cannot find you a suitable offer, you will not be charged.
We disclose the commission we receive in full, and the model used, whether that is a fixed fee, a fixed rate, a percentage of the amount advanced, or a rate-for-risk structure, is explained clearly before any agreement is signed.
Martin has arranged asset finance and refinance transactions across Scotland for over twenty years. Every transaction below was completed by Martin personally. Those arranged before Mackenzie Commercial Finance Ltd was established are marked accordingly.
Moray manufacturing business. A precision engineering firm in Moray had accumulated significant asset value in its CNC machinery over several years of trading. The business had taken on a short-term loan to fund a contract that ran over time and over budget. The loan was expensive and the monthly repayments were stretching cashflow. We arranged a refinance against the machinery, generating £150,000. The short-term loan was repaid in full, the monthly outgoing was reduced significantly, and the business had a clearer cashflow position for the remainder of the year. Arranged by Mackenzie Commercial Finance.
Dundee taxi fleet. A fleet operator in Dundee had a number of vehicles across different hire purchase agreements with different lenders, each at a different rate and with different remaining terms. The business was also looking to add vehicles to the fleet to grow the operation. We consolidated the existing agreements into a single refinance facility, which simplified the monthly payments and released equity above the existing balances. That equity was used alongside a new asset finance facility to fund the additional vehicles. Arranged by Martin Mackenzie in a previous role.
Coach operator, central Scotland. A coach operator in central Scotland had identified an opportunity to acquire a competitor business whose owner was retiring. The acquisition price was agreed, but the funds were not in the business. We arranged a refinance against the existing coach fleet, and the funds were used to complete the acquisition, bringing additional vehicles, contracts and revenue into the business within a matter of weeks. Arranged by Martin Mackenzie in a previous role.