Farming & Agriculture Business Finance

We provide competitive finance rates for both new and used farming machinery and equipment.

As both a lender and broker, Portman can offer you access to funding options not available on the high-street, tailored to the specific needs of your business.

Government support for Farming & Agricultural Businesses

COVID, Brexit and global disharmony will continue to cause turbulence for everyone. Government policy favours the entrepreneur, which new farming policy mirrors: protect the environment, pay farmers for services, but cut social welfare support.

This environment suits those that can think on their feet – diversifying or pivoting to more profitable or better supported areas. Portman can support you in tackling this challenge with confidence.

Ride out the farming price hikes

So, it’s a story that farmers will find very familiar – the next couple of years will be a bit of a rollercoaster. We’re looking at a profit forecast for the whole agricultural industry reverting back to 2020 levels. Hopefully, some cost increases such as energy and fertiliser, will be short term; increases in labour and machinery though seem more long-term.

It’s critical to your business continuity to maintain your purchasing ability through this period, which Portman can support you with.

Need to diversify your business, purchase machinery, agri-tech equipment, livestock, or upgrade property? Enquire today and we’ll appoint a dedicated account manager to work with you directly, understand your specific needs and find an ideal farm finance solution for your business.

Holiday Park and Glamping Site Finance

With international travel severely restricted in 2020 and 2021, UK holidaymakers turned to staycations.

This drove a sharp growth in demand for a wide range of holiday parks, camping and glamping holidays.

Although the pandemic is now behind us, we haven’t forgotten our taste for the outdoor experience. Travelling abroad has lost its appeal for some. Pandemic-related restrictions remain in place in several countries, and the 3.2m pets bought during the lockdown need looking after.

The staycation sector is forecast to continue growing in the coming years, and the opportunities for holiday parks and glamping businesses are ripe.

That’s as long as you create a distinctive offer that gets your destination on a must-visit list. How can you do that? With holiday park finance.

Top of the pods

Not everyone is up for the draughty allure of a night under canvas. It’s not that they don’t want to get back to basics, just not that basic. Demand for glamping facilities was rising before anyone heard of COVID, but that trend has only increased. It’s not just about having a warm and cosy place to stay – glampers are looking for somewhere unique to stay (and ideally, something ‘instagrammable’). The great thing is that the maths adds up. Glamping pods typically repay their initial investment in just 2-3 years.

You can finance or extend a glamping site with support from Portman.

All you need to do is decide what you’ll offer: pods, treehouses, yurts, gers, teepees, huts, dugouts, UFOs, helicopters (really!) or double–decker buses. The weirder, the better it seems!

Grow with Holiday Park Finance

You may have an established holiday park business, but growth and visitor numbers have reached a standstill. In that case, a finance injection into your glamping site may be the perfect solution to get the ball rolling and increase revenue. You can utilise asset finance to improve your site’s facility offering and upgrade the available accommodation types. For many glamping goers, choosing a spot to stay is all about getting the perfect pics for the ‘gram. Similarly, you can invest in exposure and marketing efforts with the help of a business loan that you can use to outsource paid and organic growth strategies or even hire your own sub-team. With a business loan, it is up to you how you spend the money on your business and where you think the investment will have the most impact.

Glamping Finance for Start-Ups and SMEs

Are you a start-up or a new small business built on a passion for camping and the outdoors? We can help you align your facilities and site with your vision with glamping finance.

Whether you need a start-up loan to purchase land or asset finance to purchase and build your camping facilities. Not sure how to get started? 2021 saw a rise in pop-up campsites, continuing a trend that saw numbers double between 2019 and 2020.

Pop-ups are a good way for new campsites and glampsites to get started.

A business loan through Portman can help you get your first ‘foot in the field’ or take the next step to establishing your first permanent site.

With a wider variety of people trying camping and glamping, expectations have risen beyond what hardcore campers were happy with before.

Successful camping and glamping sites will be those that make the most of their location and site to deliver not just a nice place to stay, but a full experience. This could include landscaping, planting and leisure facilities.

It could also include early adoption of growing trends for en-pitch facilities. These could include en-pitch hot tubs, toilets and stronger wi-fi connectivity for instance.

Tailored finance from Portman can be used for all of these investments and more.

Invest in your site’s health and safety

The pandemic made us much more aware of health and safety, and the camping sector had to adapt quickly. Shared facilities are now needed to accommodate social distancing, washing and cleanliness. New customers expect facilities more akin to holiday cottages, and once that bar has been set, it’s not likely to come down. Holiday park finance could support investment in onsite facilities, helping your guests feel safer, cleaner and better looked after. Better facilities mean better reviews, and better reviews mean more customers and a growing business. It’s not just about site facilities, though. Many campsites stopped taking walk-in bookings. This increased the need for good online booking systems, websites and social media presence – something else you could use finance from Portman for.

Farming Equipment and Technology Finance

Whether you are new to the agriculture lifestyle or have worked on and owned farms your entire life, we can help you with agriculture and farm finance at Portman. This means that if you are in need of new equipment, like tractors or other vehicles, you could be approved for a finance plan to make your purchase as soon as possible.

Utilising our hire purchase options ensures you don’t have to delay in completing necessary work on your farm in order to wait for funds etc…

Protect against rising interest rates

Did you know you can protect your equipment against rising interest rates?

Inflation is on the up, largely because consumer demand has returned but supply chains are yet to catch up. This could mean that base rates and borrowing costs could continue to rise in the coming months. If you’ve got long-term debt, it’s best to be proactive now and look at ways you can fix rates if possible or buy the equipment you need before the cost of finance increases further. Portman can help you sort this out.

Cover temporary cash flow issues

It’s going to take time for the loss of skilled EU workers to be replaced. Similarly, it will take a while for the economy to rebalance. Overall, economic growth looks robust for the coming year, but rising costs will put a damper on profits. Short–term finance solutions on tractor financing and other equipment and technology needs can help bridge acute periods, including cash flow challenges. With Portman, you will always have a dedicated account manager – a single point of contact that will understand your situation and work with you on a solution.