Takeaway business loans: funding for pizza, kebab and curry takeaways and dark kitchens

Yes, although a brand new takeaway has fewer options than one with a trading record. Lenders look first at your own experience in food service, the money you are putting in and whether the premises can legally trade as a takeaway. Start up business loans can fund the early months, and fryers, ranges, fridges and extraction can usually be funded separately on asset finance, which keeps the loan smaller. Our brokers know which lenders will consider a food business that has not yet opened.

What helps a new takeaway application

• Hands on experience. Time spent running a kitchen or managing a takeaway counts for more than a polished plan.
• Your own stake. Savings put into the fit out show commitment and reduce what you need to borrow.
• A realistic forecast. Expected orders per night, average order value and delivery platform commission, which can take a large share of each order.
• The lease. A term long enough to repay the borrowing, and permission for hot food use.

Do I need planning permission to open a takeaway in England?

Often, yes. Since 1 September 2020 hot food takeaways in England have been sui generis, outside the Class E group that covers shops, cafés and restaurants, so turning a shop or café into a takeaway is a change of use that may need planning permission. The Planning Portal use classes guide explains the categories. An extraction flue on the outside of the building may need permission in its own right. Buying an existing takeaway that already has hot food use avoids this step, so ask the seller for the planning history. Instant Quotes matches a kitchen fit out to panel lenders in a couple of minutes, and your credit file is not touched.

In England and Wales it does if it sells hot food or hot drinks to the public between 11pm and 5am. Late night refreshment is a licensable activity under the Licensing Act 2003, so a takeaway trading after 11pm needs a premises licence from the council, and GOV.UK covers this in its licensing guidance. Lenders and buyers check it, because late evening trade is often a large share of takings. We arrange finance for takeaways with the right licences and registrations in place.

When should a new takeaway register as a food business?

At least 28 days before you start trading. The Food Standards Agency service to register a food business sends your details to the local council, which will usually arrange a food hygiene inspection once you are open. The rating that follows matters to customers and to delivery platforms, so plan the fit out, cleaning routines and paperwork before the inspector arrives.

How licences affect a takeaway loan

• Opening hours. A forecast that relies on late trade needs a licence that allows it.
• Buying a takeaway. A premises licence can transfer to a new owner, but conditions on hours or deliveries carry across too.
• Timing. Applying for a new premises licence can take weeks, so build it into the date the loan starts being repaid.

See acquisition finance if you are buying an existing takeaway, or use Instant Quotes for a first look at likely lenders before any search is made against your credit file.

Lenders will expect a takeaway to be properly set up. A few points from official sources:

• Food business registration: in England, Wales and Northern Ireland a new food business must register with its local authority at least 28 days before it starts trading, according to the GOV.UK food business registration page. Each site registers separately.
• VAT on hot food: HMRC's guidance on catering and takeaway food says hot takeaway food that meets its tests is standard-rated, while cold takeaway food is generally zero-rated. A VAT-registered takeaway needs to budget for this.
• Late night trading: selling hot food or drink to the public between 11pm and 5am is late night refreshment, which needs a licence from the council under the Licensing Act 2003.

Illustrative example only, not a quote. A pizza takeaway that has traded for four years needs a new deck oven and replacement extraction. The owner funds the oven and extraction through hire purchase over several years, so the cost is spread while the equipment earns. Separately, a small unsecured loan covers the closure week and the refit of the counter. The lender reviews six months of bank statements, the card terminal reports and the last filed accounts. Because the shop's takings are steady through the year, fixed monthly payments suit it better than an advance.

Look at the total amount repayable, not only the monthly or daily amount. With a merchant cash advance the cost is usually a fixed amount on top of the advance, so compare it carefully with a term loan; our merchant cash advance calculator helps. Also check arrangement fees, early settlement terms, and whether a personal guarantee is required. Pricing depends on your trading, so we show each offer's full cost side by side.

Our food and beverage business case study shows an offer increased once underwriting conditions were cleared.

If you are opening your first site, read our guide to getting a loan to start a restaurant, most of which applies to takeaways too. Owners who own their property may get better terms on a secured loan. If you already have an advance that is weighing on cash flow, refinancing it into a term loan can help.