Tube bending is a tooling business as much as a machine business, and the bend tooling rarely fits the next owner’s job.
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Yes. CNC tube benders are funded as hard assets, normally on hire purchase, and used machines are fundable. The point that trips people up is tooling. Bend tools are specific to a diameter, wall and centreline radius, and a full set across several sizes can rival the cost of the machine. Funders treat that tooling as soft cost with limited recovery value, because it is unlikely to suit whoever buys the machine next. Budget the tooling separately and ask early what proportion, if any, a funder will include.
Used kit: Yes — used CNC tube benders are fundable, commonly to around fifteen years old where the control is supported and the machine is complete.
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Business asset finance is quoted on a flat rate, so that is what this shows — with the equivalent APR underneath, because the two are not the same number. A quick guide only; your actual rate depends on the asset, term, deposit and lender.
Representative example: on Hire Purchase, borrowing £25,000 over 48 months at a 6.0% flat rate (equivalent to 11.5% APR representative), you would repay around £646 a month; total amount repayable approximately £31,000, of which £6,000 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. CW Asset Finance is an Appointed Representative of Rural Finance Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 630701).
Funders see tube benders as sound but specialist. The recognised builders have an international trade and machines hold value, though the buyer pool is smaller than for general machine tools, so realisation takes longer and the advance is set accordingly. Machines with a common capacity range and a supported control move most easily; large-capacity or unusual multi-stack machines are slower to place. Control generation and support drive value here as on any CNC, and an obsolete control on a mandrel bender makes it a hard sell. Bend tooling, mandrels and wiper dies are soft and heavily discounted because of how job-specific they are. Underwriters note that tube work often sits with automotive, construction and furniture, all cyclical, so customer spread is read carefully. Declines usually reflect covenant rather than the machine.
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 |
|---|---|
| Unison Breeze | All electric mandrel bender for tube work |
| Unison all electric benders | British benders for exhaust and handrail work |
| BLM E-Turn | Electric bender for left and right bends |
| BLM tube bending cells | Automated bending systems for volume production |
| Pedrazzoli Bend-Tech | Mandrel bender for general tube fabrication |
| Pedrazzoli mandrel benders | Hydraulic and electric benders for workshops |
| Addison mandrel benders | Tube benders for structural and furniture work |
| Akyapak APK section roller | Section roller for curving tube and profile |
| Ercolina tube benders | Compact benders for small fabrication shops |
| Soco tube benders | Value benders for handrail and frame making |
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Tube manipulation specialists, exhaust and hydraulic line makers, handrail and balustrade fabricators, furniture and seating manufacturers, and motorsport fabricators. The trigger is usually a customer moving from hand-bent prototypes to repeatable production, or a shop losing work because it cannot hold ovality and wrinkle-free bends on thin wall material without a mandrel machine. Rejected samples on a first article submission concentrate the mind quickly.
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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.
Only partly, and often not at all. Tooling is cut for specific diameters and radii and rarely suits the next owner, so it carries almost no recovery value for a funder. Some will allow a capped soft-cost element. Where tooling is a large part of the spend, a separate facility is usually the practical answer.
It is not treated as a different class of asset, though electric machines are currently desirable and that supports resale value. Funders assess brand, capacity, control support and condition. A well-known electric machine in good order and a well-maintained hydraulic machine are both comfortable propositions.
Broadly, yes — it is funded as fabrication machinery on the same basis. Section and profile rollers are simpler machines with a wider buyer base, which can make them slightly easier on value. If you are buying both a bender and a roller, they can usually go on one agreement.
A contract certainly helps the story, but funders lend against the business, not the contract. They will want to see your trading position and how the new work fits. Where the machine is large relative to your current size, expect more questions and possibly a deposit or a guarantee to bridge the gap.
That is worth resolving before the purchase, not after. A funder advances against the machine as it is. If the seller is upgrading the control as part of the sale and invoicing it as one machine, that is straightforward. An upgrade you intend to do yourself later sits outside the agreement entirely.
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Not an offer of finance. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval.
Tell us what you’re looking to fund and Conor will come back to you personally — usually the same day.
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