Business loans for pubs and bars

Ardent Capital Group brings the same method to every client: execution and strategy, clear advice for smart lending, and long-term growth. That means the right lender, structure and timing, straight advice so you borrow with confidence, and today's deal built toward where you want to be tomorrow. We are specialists in helping business owners secure finance to purchase their own property, and we understand the complex structures that often sit around it, including multiple trusts, holding companies and self-managed super funds. Through that work we also understand what the business needs from its cash flow, and where an overdraft or line of credit fits for working capital. For a licensed venue, that means a lender that understands hospitality cash flow, gaming entitlements and going-concern valuations, matched from a Sydney brokerage that has settled more than 1,000 loans and funded over $500M across more than sixty bank and non-bank lenders. We stay in your corner well beyond settlement. Every figure is subject to serviceability, lender appetite and approval.

Lending to a licensed venue is assessed mainly on trading history, takings and cash flow, read from your BAS and bank statements, rather than on property value alone. Unsecured and equipment facilities rest on the strength of the trade, while a secured loan brings property, gaming entitlements or business assets into the structure for a larger amount at a sharper rate. The right mix depends on how your venue performs across the year and what the funding is for, and it is often a combination of products. We shape it around your numbers and place it with a lender that understands hospitality. Ardent Capital Group is a Sydney-based finance brokerage arranging venue finance across Australia.

It depends on the amount, the purpose and what you are comfortable offering as security. Unsecured business loans are faster to arrange and keep your property out of the structure, but they are usually smaller and priced higher. Secured loans, backed by commercial or residential property or by business assets, support a larger facility at a sharper rate. For an established pub with a freehold, or an operator with equity available, a secured facility often makes sense. We weigh both against your balance sheet and your appetite, subject to serviceability, lender appetite and approval.

We arrange facilities from around $100K up to $100M. For a single venue, an unsecured working capital loan typically sits in the tens of thousands to a few hundred thousand, while a secured term loan against a freehold reaches into the millions. The upper end of the range is generally for multi-venue groups structuring finance across several sites and their property. Any larger facility is built on real security and cash flow rather than trading alone, subject to serviceability, lender appetite and approval.

Yes. Equipment and asset finance can fund gaming machines, coolrooms, kegerators, glasswashers, kitchen plant, POS systems and a full fit-out, with the equipment itself usually serving as the security. Terms are typically matched to the life of the asset, and established venues can often be assessed on bank statements and BAS rather than full financials. Structuring it as asset finance keeps your cash and property free for the rest of the venue, subject to lender appetite and approval.

Not always. Unsecured business loans are available to established businesses with at least 12 months of consistent trading and clean credit. Property security is not required for smaller facilities, though it improves both the size and the rate on larger ones. Where you would rather not use property, equipment and asset finance, unsecured lending and cash flow facilities can fund the venue against other security. We assess what is available for your position without assuming property is on the table.

Unsecured business loans and working capital can often be arranged within one to three business days for venues with clean financials and consistent trading, which matters when you need stock or cash in place before a peak weekend or season. Secured facilities against property take longer, typically one to three weeks, because of valuation and documentation. Larger structured facilities depend on the complexity of the security and the lender. We give you a realistic timeline for the specific product rather than an optimistic one.

Often, yes. Many unsecured business loans and some equipment finance facilities can be assessed from bank statements and BAS lodgements rather than full financials, which suits established venues whose accounts are not yet finalised. Low-doc does not mean no assessment; the lender still reviews trading history, cash flow and credit. Larger and secured facilities generally need full financials. We tell you upfront what each option requires.

A freehold going concern is the land, building and business sold together, so you own the premises outright and lending is assessed on the going concern value rather than bricks and mortar alone. A leasehold going concern is the business and its lease without the underlying land, so the deal is smaller and assessed more like a business loan against trading and the value of the lease. Owner-occupier finance for a freehold licensed venue commonly reaches around 65 percent of value, while a leasehold is funded more conservatively. We structure the funding to match whichever you are buying, subject to serviceability, valuation, lender appetite and approval.

Yes. Buying the freehold your pub or bar operates from is a commercial property purchase, and we arrange it alongside your business lending. Owner-occupier finance for a licensed venue commonly reaches around 65 percent of value, assessed on the going concern value rather than bricks and mortar alone. For a purchase or refinance of the premises, see our dedicated pub and bar property finance page, and we can structure the working capital and equipment finance around it. Subject to serviceability, valuation, lender appetite and approval.

Most of the time, no. We are paid a commission by the lender once your facility settles. Where a deal requires significant preparation or involves unusual complexity, a small mandate fee may apply. We will always be upfront about this before any work begins.

Although we are based in Sydney, we service clients across all major Australian cities, including Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart, along with their surrounding regional areas. Wherever your business is located, we can arrange your finance.

Although our main speciality is property loans for business owners, such as a property loan to buy your pub or bar, we also assist with bar and venue fit-out finance and working capital. On asset finance, that covers equipment, machinery and commercial vehicles. On working capital, we arrange business overdrafts, lines of credit and cash-flow funding. We also arrange commercial mortgages if you are buying or refinancing premises.

Yes. First-time licensees and newly acquired venues are well within our wheelhouse, and helping you understand the right strategy and structure from the first conversation is core to how we work. For a venue you have just taken on, lenders lean more on the trading history of the business and your own background, so we present both properly. Our main borrower profiles are venue operators and owners seeking finance from $100,000 upwards. Smaller sole-trader and consumer-style ABN lending sits outside our field.