Kennet Equipment Leasing: what it funds and how to apply

Kennet Equipment Leasing Ltd is a UK asset finance company that leases business equipment to SMEs. Companies House shows it as an active private company, number 02569928, incorporated on 20 December 1990 as Kennet Corporate Services Limited and renamed in 2002. Its registered office is Kennet House, Temple Court, Temple Way, Coleshill, and its listed activities are financial leasing and financial intermediation.

Kennet is now one of the businesses in the STAR Asset Finance Group, alongside Credo Capital Finance, First Capital Finance and Ignition Credit. Its old web address forwards to a Kennet page on the group’s site. The group says each business keeps its local focus while gaining access to a wider range of finance and in-house funding.

Kennet says it can finance equipment valued from £1,000 upwards, and that virtually any item of equipment can be leased from that figure. It says it has access to over 35 lenders and its own funds. Its published services are:

• Customer leasing. Leasing for businesses buying equipment, plant, machinery or vehicles.
• Supplier leasing. Finance that equipment manufacturers, sellers and resellers can offer their own customers.
• Vehicle finance. Cars, vans and trucks.
• Loans and cash advance. A loan facility paid into the business for cash flow, building work, stock or wages.
• Tax liability finance. Spreading directors’ tax, VAT or corporation tax over time.
• Renewable energy finance and commercial loans. Including an unsecured commercial loan.

The group’s customer leasing page lists asset types including cars, construction equipment, HGVs, vans, bus and coach, agricultural assets, technology, engineering, golf machinery and shop or office fit-outs. Kennet does not publish maximum amounts, terms or rates on the pages we read.

The STAR Asset Finance Group FAQ, which covers Kennet, describes the process this way:

• You choose the equipment and agree a lease with the leasing company.
• You pay a nominal amount in advance, normally the equivalent of one monthly payment.
• The supplier is paid the full invoice once the equipment is delivered or installed to your satisfaction.
• You pay fixed rentals, usually monthly, by Direct Debit, with quarterly invoice payments also available.
• Your payments are fixed at the start and do not change if interest rates rise.

At the end of a finance lease, the FAQ gives three options: return the equipment, extend the lease for an agreed period, or upgrade with the original supplier on new lease terms, subject to credit approval. Under hire purchase, it says you own the goods once you pay an option-to-purchase fee. Our guide to what a finance lease is explains the mechanics in more detail.

Two points need care. First, the FAQ says some leases may be off balance sheet. For accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026, the FRC’s amendments to FRS 102 remove the distinction between operating and finance leases for lessees, so most leases now go on the balance sheet, with exemptions for short-term and low-value leases. Second, GOV.UK says you cannot claim capital allowances on things you lease unless you have a hire purchase contract or a long funding lease. Ask your accountant; Capzy does not give tax or accounting advice.

Our comparison of hire purchase and leasing sets out how to choose between them.

Supplier finance is a large part of what Kennet describes. If you manufacture, sell or resell capital equipment, Kennet says it will provide finance to your customers, so you receive your full invoice value while it arranges the finance with the customer. It also offers suppliers marketing support, such as e-shots and brochures, and training courses on selling with leasing.

For a buyer, that means the finance offered at the point of sale may come from Kennet or another finance company working with the supplier. You are free to compare it with other quotes. Our guide to offering finance to customers covers the supplier side.

The FAQ answers the general questions; the agreement in front of you decides the rest. Check these points in writing:

• The product. Finance lease, hire purchase, contract hire or a hire agreement each end differently. The FAQ says hire agreements, common for IT, coffee machines and photocopiers, normally leave ownership with the supplier or a third party.
• Who the lessor is. Kennet may fund the deal itself or place it with one of its panel lenders.
• The total payable. Monthly rental multiplied by the number of payments, plus any documentation or option fee.
• Ending early. The FAQ warns that settling a contract hire or operating lease early may mean repaying all the outstanding rentals or paying an exit penalty.
• End-of-term terms. What an extension costs and what notice you must give.

If the need is a tax bill rather than equipment, Kennet’s tax liability finance is one option; our pages on VAT loans and corporation tax loans explain how that kind of finance works.

Kennet asks prospective customers to get in touch or request a quote through the STAR Asset Finance Group site, giving their company name, contact details, UK business postcode and sector. It says it offers quick decisions and turnaround, though it does not publish a timescale, eligibility rules or documents on the pages we read. Ask what documents it needs before you send anything, and have the supplier’s quote for the equipment to hand.

Because Kennet works with a panel of lenders as well as its own funds, the company that ends up owning your lease may not be Kennet. Ask who the lessor will be and get the full terms in writing.

Several independent asset financiers in the Capzy lender directory publish similar products, listed alphabetically:

• Admiral Leasing & Loans leases equipment and offers hire purchase and commercial loans to new and established businesses, using its own funds.
• ALG Finance lends its own funds and also arranges deals with other UK finance companies, for transactions of £1,000 to £3 million.
• Liberty Finance offers hire purchase, finance lease and refinance of £10K to £1M.
• PEAC Solutions funds equipment through brokers and vendors, with a broker minimum deal size of £1,000.

Our list of asset finance companies covers more providers, and our page on asset finance explains the products. Capzy is a credit broker, not a lender, and is paid by the lender. You can check your options with a soft search that does not affect your credit score.