ALG Finance: products, terms and eligibility

ALG Finance is a UK provider of asset finance. The legal entity named on its site is ALG Finance Ltd, company number 04040097. It is based in Cheadle, Cheshire. It gives its founding year as 2000.

ALG Finance describes itself as a privately owned, independent finance company established in 2000 and based in Cheadle, Cheshire (its home page also refers to Stockport). It says its management team has more than thirty years of combined experience in the asset finance sector. It says it arranges finance from £1,000 to £3 million for SMEs, and also lists business loans, factoring and invoice discounting, and commercial mortgages.

Everything on this page comes from what ALG Finance publishes itself. We show the date we last checked it, and we do not rate or rank lenders.

ALG Finance publishes 2 products for UK businesses. The table above gives the amounts and terms as it states them.

• Finance lease and hire purchase: Title stays with the finance company on a lease, with a secondary period at the end; hire purchase payments cover capital and interest over the agreement term.
• Asset refinance: Raises funds against vehicles or equipment you own, including those with equity under existing finance.

Finance lease and hire purchase

With a finance lease, title to the equipment stays with the finance company throughout, typically over 2 to 5 years, and the customer pays rentals. It says leases are normally secured only on the equipment, so additional security is usually unnecessary. At the end the customer can move to a secondary rental period or sell the equipment and keep a percentage of the proceeds. With hire purchase the customer pays capital and interest instalments, often after a deposit, and gains ownership once all payments are made; capital allowances can be claimed on the full cost.

Asset refinance

Raises funds against equipment or vehicles the business already owns outright or that have existing finance with equity available. Funds can be used for any business purpose. It says facilities typically range from 70% to 100% of asset value depending on transaction size, period and how saleable the asset is, usually subject to valuation (a desktop valuation first, a formal valuation in some cases). It says these facilities are not repayable on demand.

ALG Finance says its finance is used for:

• Replacing overdrafts or factoring arrangements
• Business expansion
• Meeting an unexpected tax liability
• Equipment and vehicle purchase
• Raising capital against existing assets

Sectors and business types it says it funds:

• Commercial and recovery vehicles
• Construction
• Printing
• Catering
• Forestry
• Engineering and laboratory
• Fitness

ALG Finance publishes these criteria. Meeting them does not mean an application will be accepted: every lender makes its own decision.

• Partnerships, limited companies and PLCs.
• From new start to blue chip.
• Profitable or loss-making businesses considered.
• Pre-packs, phoenixes, MBOs, MBIs and businesses in a CVA considered.

ALG Finance describes its process like this:

1. Contact ALG Finance by phone or through its contact page.
2. The proposal is discussed and, for refinance, a desktop valuation of the assets is obtained.
3. A facility is offered, subject to valuation where applicable.

Every application is subject to status and the lender’s own criteria at the time.

Asset finance spreads the cost of equipment, vehicles or machinery, with the asset itself as the main security. Under hire purchase you own the asset once the final payment is made; under a lease you pay to use it and hand it back, extend or replace it at the end.

Lenders look at the asset’s age, condition and resale value as well as the business, and many fund used as well as new equipment. Sector pages such as transport and logistics finance and construction finance show how it is used in practice.

Points ALG Finance publishes that are worth knowing:

• Lends its own funds and also brokers to other UK finance companies.
• Leases are normally secured only on the equipment financed.
• Says its refinance products are not repayable on demand.
• Also arranges invoice discounting, factoring, trade finance and commercial mortgages (not recorded as products).

Security and guarantees

Leases are normally secured only on the financed equipment. Asset refinance is offered subject to valuation of the assets. Guarantee requirements are not stated on the pages read.

The pages we checked do not carry a regulatory statement, so we describe none. Ask ALG Finance how it is regulated and check any claim on the FCA Register.

Protections differ by borrower type and loan size. Most lending to limited companies is not regulated consumer credit, so read the agreement and ask the lender what applies to you.

Other providers of asset finance with profiles here include Allica Bank, Armada Asset Finance and Davenham Asset Finance. Each profile uses that lender’s own published terms.

The full list, grouped by product type, is in our directory of UK business lenders.

Capzy is a credit broker, not a lender, and gets paid by the lender. One application lets your business compare options across lenders, so you can weigh this kind of facility against the alternatives. You can check your funding options with a soft search that does not affect your credit score. A full application to a lender may involve a hard search, and any offer is subject to status and lender criteria.