Martin Mackenzie explains exactly where Mackenzie Commercial Finance covers, why being based in Inverness is an advantage not a limitation, and shares real examples of asset finance arranged personally across every part of Scotland from Shetland to Dumfries.
Photo by Johnny Briggs on Unsplash
My name is Martin Mackenzie and I am a Director of Mackenzie Commercial Finance Ltd. I set up MCF in 2026 after spending twenty years working within banking and finance, the majority of that time in asset finance. My career has included time working directly for FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 banking institutions, including a significant period with Close Brothers Asset Finance, as well as experience at the opposite end of the scale working for a traditional local finance broker. That combination of experience, from the large institutional lender to the small independent brokerage, is what I have tried to bring together at MCF.
Mackenzie Commercial Finance is an Asset Finance brokerage based in Inverness. We are Appointed Representatives of Crystal Business Finance Limited, which gives us access to over 120 lenders ranging from well-known high street names through to broker-only lenders that provide specialist offerings to UK-based SMEs. We focus specifically on Asset Finance, which includes Hire Purchase and Leasing for the purchase of business vehicles, machinery and equipment, and Asset Refinance, which is the release of equity from assets a business already owns. We also arrange Business Loans where required. We do not try to do everything. We do Asset Finance and we do it properly.
A question that comes up regularly
Since starting MCF and reaching out to business connections and new prospects across Scotland, one question comes up on a regular basis. What areas do you cover?
The simple answer is the whole of Scotland.
Alana and I are both from Inverness. We are raising our family here, our extended family is here, and it makes every sense for us to be based here. But being based in Inverness has never meant only doing business in the Highlands. For the majority of my career, I was based out of an office in East Kilbride. My client base stretched from Lerwick in the Shetland Isles in the north, to Dumfries in the south, Aberdeen in the east and Glasgow in the west. My record annual mileage was just over 40,000 miles in a single year. That was 2019, and I would like to think that improvements in technology mean I will never have to match that particular record again. Video calls and electronic signing have their place. But face to face remains the most important part of building a business relationship, and in 2026 I still get in the car.
Comments from colleagues over the years about Inverness being "all the way up there" always used to amuse me. To them it conjured up images of remote wilderness and long journeys. To me, a drive down the A9 meant a few hours to catch up on phone calls, listen to the radio, and stop at Bruar halfway down for the obligatory coffee and comfort break. Give me a few hours and I can reach almost anywhere on mainland Scotland. Locations that require a pre-booked ferry need a little more planning, but even then, I have made those journeys.
Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire
I have spent many days over the years driving to and from Aberdeen and the surrounding towns of Inverurie, Huntly, Peterhead and Fraserburgh. The Aberdeen area has a strong mix of energy sector businesses, agriculture, haulage, engineering and fishing, and I have arranged finance across all of those sectors in this part of Scotland.
I have personally arranged asset finance for a haulier in Fraserburgh purchasing his first used tractor unit and trailer, a deal that allowed his business to get started where other lenders had said no. I have supported a farmer on the south side of Aberdeen raise close to £100,000 through refinancing existing assets to pay cash for cattle at auction in Stirling. I have arranged refinance for a coach operator west of Aberdeen, covering areas including Inverurie, to release equity tied up in paid-off vehicles and provide the deposit for the purchase of new coaches. That particular case also involved additional support through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme during the COVID period.
Aberdeen is only a couple of hours along the A96 from Inverness. If you are based in Aberdeen or Aberdeenshire and you call us in the morning, Martin can be with you the same day. Mackenzie Commercial Finance is delighted to visit businesses in this part of Scotland at their premises, at home or wherever suits.
Caithness, Sutherland and the far north
Being based in Inverness puts us in the perfect position to travel north. Wick and Thurso are only a couple of hours from our office, and I have arranged finance for businesses across Caithness and Sutherland that some brokers based in the central belt would never reach.
I have personally arranged asset finance for an engineering business in Caithness to fund a robotic welding arm, the sort of specialist equipment more commonly associated with large manufacturing operations in Glasgow or Dundee, but very much needed by a precision engineering firm in the far north. I have financed glamping pods for a campsite on the North Coast 500 route, providing accommodation for the growing number of tourists travelling one of Scotland's most scenic roads. Glamping pods might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of asset finance, but they are identifiable, movable and financeable. And I have arranged many other finance requirements for clients across this part of Scotland over the years.
The north of Scotland is not remote to us. It is on our doorstep.
Tayside, Perthshire and Fife
Martin's family descend from Dundee, and it is where I went to study after leaving school in Inverness. We retain strong connections to the area and I have arranged finance for clients across Tayside, Perthshire and Fife throughout my career.
In Dundee I have arranged finance for taxi operators both financing single vehicles for new entrants to the trade and supporting established operators with larger fleets of specially adapted accessible vehicles. In Arbroath I have arranged finance for a farmer purchasing a pickup truck as a private sale, which is worth noting because assets do not have to come from a franchised dealer. Many of our lenders will arrange finance for assets being purchased from another business, at auction or through private sale.
Crossing the Tay Bridge into Fife I have arranged refinance for a coach operator that formed part of a business acquisition, demonstrating how asset refinance can be used as a tool within a management buyout or business takeover. Near St Andrews I have arranged finance for a golf tour operator purchasing a Mercedes V-Class to transport wealthy clients around the golf courses of Scotland. A prestige vehicle for a prestige service.
From Inverness, Dundee, Perth and Fife are only a few hours. If you call us at nine in the morning, Martin can be with you for lunch.
Edinburgh, Stirling and Falkirk
The central belt of Scotland, including Edinburgh, Stirling and Falkirk, is an area I have spent a great deal of time in over the years and where I have arranged a wide range of finance for businesses of all sizes.
In Edinburgh I have helped a cafe owner finance the purchase of a coffee machine and refrigeration display unit, allowing her to open her own premises after years of working for others. That is the kind of asset finance that people often do not associate with the industry: commercial catering equipment is absolutely financeable and we arrange it regularly. I have also supported a vehicle mechanics business in Edinburgh to purchase a new MOT testing station, enabling them to bring MOT testing in-house and stop outsourcing it to other garages.
In Falkirk I have supported an uncle and nephew operating a private hire and taxi business to purchase a used Range Rover, adding a luxury chauffeur service to their operation that capitilised on the high-paying guests of local hotels and businesses requiring transport. That introduction led to further finance for additional vehicles across both the luxury and standard taxi categories.
Edinburgh and Stirling are around three to four hours from Inverness. If you call us at noon, Martin can be with you mid afternoon.
The Borders and Dumfries and Galloway
I will be honest: my personal experience is thinner on the ground in the Borders and Dumfries and Galloway than in other parts of Scotland. Having said that, I have financed the private sale purchase of a tractor unit for a haulage business based in Dumfries, which was purchased from a client of mine based in Oban. The Oban client made the introduction, I had a conversation over the phone, and then got in the car to get the deal done. It is closer to five hours from Inverness, so an additional coffee stop is required, but it is absolutely achievable within a day.
Mackenzie Commercial Finance is delighted to work with businesses in the Borders and Dumfries and Galloway. The fact that I have fewer personal examples from this part of Scotland reflects the geography of my previous roles rather than any lack of appetite to work here. We actively want to build relationships in this part of the country.
Glasgow and the west of Scotland
Glasgow is where the office I worked from for around a decade was based, so this is an area where I have extensive experience and where I have arranged finance for a large number of businesses across a wide range of sectors.
I have arranged finance for delivery vans for a logistics business in Glasgow, a recovery vehicle for a garage in Hillington, numerous private hire vehicles across the greater Glasgow area, and within the past two years arranged refinance for a fleet of trailers for a Lanarkshire based haulage firm. Glasgow and the surrounding area is the most business-dense part of Scotland and there is genuinely no shortage of asset finance requirements there.
If you call me at ten in the morning, I would not hesitate in committing to a face to face meeting in Glasgow at two in the afternoon the same day. It is a journey I have made hundreds of times.
The Islands
The Scottish islands deserve a special mention. I have travelled to Shetland to arrange finance for a HIAB lorry for an engineering business outside Lerwick. I have arranged finance for excavators and other yellow plant for a plant hire operator based on Orkney. I have arranged finance for minibuses for a well-established school contract operator in Benbecula in the Western Isles. And I have arranged finance for multiple clients based on the Isle of Skye, which I almost hesitate to include in an islands section given that there is a bridge and it is as straightforward to reach as many mainland locations.
The islands require a little more forward planning, usually around ferry bookings, but they are absolutely within our reach and we have the personal experience to prove it.
So where do we cover?
The whole of Scotland. From Lerwick to Dumfries, from Fraserburgh to Oban. Whether your business is in a city centre or on a rural estate, whether your asset is a tractor unit or a coffee machine, whether you want to finance a purchase or release equity from something you already own, Mackenzie Commercial Finance will come to you.
If a national brokerage advertising UK-wide coverage is your first thought, consider this: Martin can be with you in person, anywhere in Scotland, the same day you call. Most of those national operations cannot say the same.
If a local property finance brokerage is your first thought because they are nearby, consider whether they actually specialise in Asset Finance. There is a difference between a broker who handles the occasional asset finance request and one who has spent twenty years doing nothing else.
Mackenzie Commercial Finance. Asset Finance. Based in Inverness. Covering Scotland. Available at 01463 652 653 at any time. We will meet you at your business premises, at your home, or at the side of the road if that is what suits you. You are also very welcome to visit us in Inverness. We have a good coffee machine.
The same applies to professional introducers. If you are an accountant, solicitor, commercial estate agent or other finance professional looking for a reliable partner in Asset Finance with genuine banking expertise and a commitment to face-to-face service, please reach out. We are actively looking to build long-term professional relationships across Scotland and we would be delighted to have that conversation.
Our services: Asset Finance (Hire Purchase and Leasing), Asset Refinance and Business Loans. All arranged by people who have been doing this for a combined total of over 35 years and who will be here, in Scotland, doing it for many years to come.
The views expressed in this article are the personal opinions of Martin Mackenzie as an individual. Nothing in this article should be taken as financial advice or a recommendation. Mackenzie Commercial Finance Ltd is an Appointed Representative of Crystal Business Finance Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We are a broker, not a lender. We will receive a commission from the lender for all completed agreements.
