Walk-in fridge finance
A cold room is the difference between buying well and buying weekly, and it is one of the few kitchen investments that pays for itself on the purchase ledger.
Whole-of-market — 60+ lenders searched, including
Can you finance a walk-in fridge?
Yes. Modular cold rooms are funded as equipment, normally on hire purchase, covering the insulated panels, door, shelving and the refrigeration pack. Used cold rooms are fundable where a specialist has dismantled and re-certified them. The point that catches tenants out is ownership. Once a cold room is built inside a leased unit it may be treated as a landlord fixture, and your lease may require you to remove it at the end of the term. Read the alterations and dilapidations clauses before you order, and expect a larger facility to come with a landlord waiver request.
Used kit: Yes, though carefully. A dismantled and rebuilt cold room can be funded when a refrigeration contractor supplies, re-seals and warrants it, but funders are wary of panels bought at auction and erected by a general builder.
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What would a walk-in fridge cost per month?
Asset finance is quoted on a flat rate, so that is what the buttons show, with the equivalent APR beside it. Your exact rate depends on the asset, the term, the deposit and the lender.
Prime is an established, profitable business with clean credit. Specialist covers newer businesses and credit that needs explaining — the asset itself carries part of the risk, which is why finance is often available where an unsecured loan is not.
Representative example: on Hire Purchase, borrowing £25,000 over 48 months at a 5.15% flat rate (equivalent to 9.9% APR representative), you would repay around £628 a month; total amount repayable approximately £30,150, of which £5,150 is the cost of finance. This calculator is for illustration only — it is not a quote or an offer of finance, and the rate and repayments you are offered will depend on the asset, term, deposit and your circumstances. CW Asset Finance is a credit broker, not a lender, and may receive a commission from the lender that funds your agreement. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval.
Rates shown are indicative flat rates with the equivalent APR alongside — the two are not the same number. Indicative only and does not constitute a quote or an offer of finance. Subject to status and lender approval.
How lenders treat it
Cold rooms split into two halves for underwriting purposes. The refrigeration pack — the condensing unit and evaporator from a Foster, Porkka or J&E Hall — is branded, serial numbered and has a used market, so it counts as a hard asset. The panels, once clipped together inside your kitchen and sealed, are closer to a fixture, and the labour to build and commission is a pure service. Funders will generally write the package, but they are lending against your accounts more than against the room. Hospitality carries a risk loading, and start-ups are difficult. Where you are a tenant on a short lease, expect questions about what happens to the room if you leave, and be ready with the lease terms.
Makes and models we fund
Examples of the machines we are asked to fund. This is not an exhaustive list — if what you are buying is not here, it does not mean we cannot fund it. Your supplier quote is what the agreement is written against.
| Machine | What it is |
|---|---|
| Foster Proline modular coldroom | Modular walk-in chilled store |
| Foster monoblock refrigeration units | Plug-in cooling units for coldrooms |
| Porkka modular coldrooms | Insulated walk-in chill rooms |
| Viessmann TectoCell Standard Plus | Modular panel coldroom for kitchens |
| Polar U-Series cold room | Compact flat-pack walk-in chiller |
| Misa coldrooms | Panel-built walk-in chill rooms |
| J&E Hall condensing units | Remote refrigeration packs for coldrooms |
| Hubbard Products coldroom units | Monoblock and split coldroom cooling |
| Bitzer compressor packs | Refrigeration compressors for larger rooms |
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Who buys one
Restaurants and hotels with enough volume that upright cabinets have stopped coping, event caterers and function venues storing for banqueting, and butchers or delis attached to a hospitality business. The trigger is usually a supplier change: moving from daily deliveries to a weekly drop from a wholesaler needs storage, and the savings on the food bill justify the room. Kitchen refurbishments prompt the rest, because a cold room has to go in before the kitchen is built around it.
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How it is treated for tax
Bought on hire purchase, business plant and machinery normally qualifies for capital allowances on the full cost even though you pay for it monthly, which is a large part of why hire purchase is the common structure. On a finance lease you generally set the rentals against profit instead. The rules change between budgets and your position depends on how you trade, so treat this as the direction of travel and get your accountant to confirm the detail before you commit.
Walk-in fridge finance questions
Does my landlord need to agree before I install a cold room?
Almost certainly, because building one is an alteration to the premises. Your lease will have an alterations clause and probably a dilapidations obligation to reinstate at the end of the term. Sorting consent first avoids a very expensive argument later, and a funder on a larger facility may want a waiver confirming the equipment remains theirs rather than the landlord’s.
Can I finance the cold room and the shelving together?
Yes, and it is the normal way to do it. Aluminium and polymer shelving is soft, low-value kit that no funder wants to see on its own, but sitting on the same schedule as the panels and the refrigeration pack it passes without comment. Put the whole cold room package on one invoice from one supplier where you can.
Is the condensing unit funded if it sits outside on the roof?
Yes, and remote packs are entirely normal. What you should check separately is planning and noise: external condensers near residential neighbours sometimes need consent, and a refused application after you have ordered is an awkward position. The funder will fund the equipment either way but will not resolve a planning problem for you.
Can I move a financed cold room to a new site?
Physically yes, contractually you should ask first. Most agreements require the funder’s consent before equipment is relocated, because they need to know where their asset is. Tell them, get it in writing, and use a refrigeration contractor to dismantle and rebuild rather than a removals firm, or you will damage the panel seals.
How does a cold room compare to buying more upright fridges?
Financially the cold room usually wins once you need more than three or four uprights, because the cost per cubic metre drops sharply and the buying advantages are real. From a funding point of view uprights are easier, being portable and individually resaleable. If your lease is short or uncertain, uprights are the lower-risk choice.
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Not an offer of finance. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval.
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