Fitout finance: real flexibility
returning to the office

As businesses return to the workplace in either a hybrid fashion or a complete return after years of covid restrictions, it is a perfect time to realign to their objectives and revisit the workplace design. Making changes can be costly without having a clear strategy and understanding of how teams will embrace and operate in the new working environment. 

Trialing layout options and equipment (including technology and workplace furniture) is one way to assess the effectiveness of the workplace without having to commit to a full design and build. Fitout finance is a great option for those businesses that want to preserve their cash flow whilst having a range of options to upgrade, modify or complete wholesale changes to their workplace and their workplace equipment.

What is fitout finance?

Fitout finance can enable a business to finance their entire workplace, including the project elements of designing, building and the ongoing servicing of the workplace. A feature of fitout financing is that as the customer, you can select to have the entire project financed or individual components, including selective items of equipment based on your needs.

The benefits of fitout financing will vary depending on the product used and most importantly the needs of the customer. The products will potentially range from a chattel mortgage structure, through to a structured asset finance product which might be a finance lease, hire purchase or rental (operating lease). The advantage of using an asset finance product is that where there are physical items, the finance can be secured against these assets, potentially lowering the risk profile and therefore the cost of finance.

When considering fitout finance and selecting the appropriate product, the customer should evaluate the following:

• Is ownership of the fitout and equipment important?
• What level of flexibility do we want in making regular or ad-hoc changes to the workplace and equipment?
• How long will we be located in the workplace?
• Will the landlord provide a fitout incentive (cash or ownership), and will this cover the workplace and equipment requirements?
• What ongoing workplace services do we require and for how long?
• What are the make-good requirements?
• What is the cost of financing compared to our internal cost of capital?

There are many other considerations, however the above is a good initial start.

At Amicus Finance we have created a range of fitout finance options that enable you to “try before you buy”. If you’d like to learn more about our range of products and solutions, give us a call or contact us here.