Tube and fitting scaffold finance
Traditional tube and fitting still handles the awkward jobs no modular system can, and it is bought and funded by weight.
Whole-of-market — 60+ lenders searched, including
Can you finance a tube and fitting scaffold?
Yes, though tube and fitting is the hardest scaffold type to place. What you are buying is anonymous galvanised steel and boxes of couplers — no brand, no marks, nothing that distinguishes your tube from anyone else’s once it is stacked in a yard. Funders who support it lean almost entirely on the trading strength of the business and the quantity purchased, with the steel as background security. Deals are written on hire purchase against a tonnage-based invoice. Expect a narrower field of funders and more scrutiny of your accounts than on a system package.
Used kit: Yes — used tube is bought constantly and funders will support it, with wall thickness, straightness and galvanising condition mattering rather than how old the steel is.
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What would a tube and fitting scaffold 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
Everything that makes tube useful on site makes it awkward to lend against. It is cut to length, mixed between contracts, reused for decades and utterly untraceable, so a funder cannot verify what they are secured on beyond an invoice weight. Couplers make it worse, since a yard holds tens of thousands of them and nobody counts individually. The funders who transact here do so on the strength of the borrower: years trading, contract book, yard discipline and the ability to show stock reconciliations. Some will ask for a debenture or a director’s guarantee to compensate for the weak asset position. Theft and attrition are priced in openly rather than pretended away, and a contractor who can quantify their annual loss rate is taken far more seriously than one who cannot.
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 |
|---|---|
| Generation Galvanised Scaffold Tube | Standard 48.3mm steel scaffold tube |
| Generation Drop Forged Double Coupler | Right angle load bearing coupler |
| Generation Swivel Coupler | Adjustable angle scaffold coupler |
| TRAD Scaffold Tube | Galvanised tube for traditional scaffold |
| TRAD Sleeve Coupler | External tube joining coupler |
| Altrad Putlog Coupler | Non load bearing board retaining coupler |
| Altrad Base Plates and Sole Boards | Scaffold foundation and levelling components |
| Layher Steel Tube | Galvanised tube for tied scaffolds |
| Kwikstage Joint Pins | Internal tube jointing pins |
| HAKI Adjustable Base Jack | Threaded levelling jack for uneven ground |
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Who buys one
Scaffolding contractors working on refurbishment, heritage, industrial and irregular structures where system components will not fit, and firms in the north and the regions where tube remains the working standard. Purchases are usually triggered by a specific job: a church restoration, a chimney, a complex roof, something no catalogue system can be configured around.
Get a quoteor call 0333 772 4864
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.
Tube and fitting scaffold finance questions
Why is tube harder to finance than system scaffold?
Because it cannot be identified. A branded standard has a maker’s mark and a published used value; a length of galvanised tube has neither. Funders cannot confirm what they are secured on or price a recovery reliably, so they compensate by underwriting the business much more closely instead.
Do funders count fittings separately from tube?
They appear on the schedule as quantities, usually by type and often by the boxful rather than individually. Nobody expects a coupler-by-coupler count. What funders want is an invoice that clearly separates tube tonnage from fitting quantities so the package can be valued sensibly.
Will I need to give a personal guarantee?
More often than on a system deal, yes, because the asset position is weaker and the funder needs something else to balance it. Well-established contractors with strong accounts sometimes avoid it. A broker’s job here is largely finding the funders whose appetite means you do not have to.
Can tube and fitting be refinanced to release cash?
Occasionally, but it is one of the harder refinance propositions because ownership and quantity are so difficult to prove. Funders would want yard counts, purchase invoices and a clean position with no existing charge. Contractors with system stock generally find refinancing far more achievable.
Is buying used tube a false economy?
Not if it is inspected properly. Tube that is straight, within tolerance on wall thickness and still soundly galvanised has decades of life left, which is why the used market is so active. Bent, thinned or badly corroded tube is a liability regardless of how cheap it was.
Get a quoteor call 0333 772 4864
Also in scaffolding finance
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- Temporary roof system finance
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- Scaffold hoist finance
- Scaffold transport lorry finance
- Shoring equipment finance
See everything we fund in scaffolding finance →
Not an offer of finance. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval.
Get your quote
Tell us what you’re looking to fund and Conor will come back to you personally — usually the same day.
Prefer to talk? Call 0333 772 4864 · serving Leeds, York, Harrogate, Wakefield, Selby, Tadcaster & across North & West Yorkshire.