Business loans for scaffolding contractors

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. Most of a scaffolding contractor's value sits in scaffold stock out on hire and in work completed but not yet certified, which a generalist credit desk often reads as lumpy income and thin assets. Our job is to know the bank and non-bank lenders among the 60-plus on our panel that fund contractors on their stock, plant and progress claims rather than the balance sheet alone, so you are not putting that case to each desk yourself. We stay on as the crew and the stock holding grow, from the next big mobilisation to buying out a competitor. Every figure is subject to serviceability, lender appetite and approval.

It depends on how quickly you need it and what you are willing to offer as security. Unsecured facilities are assessed mainly on trading strength and can be arranged in days, which suits a limit of $100K to $500K for wages, a stock top-up or WIP. Secured facilities, backed by property, stock or plant, support larger amounts and generally carry lower rates than unsecured ones, and make sense once you are funding a big stock build or an acquisition. Most established contractors end up with a mix, and we shape which sits where.

Yes, and growing the volume of gear you keep on hire is one of the most common reasons contractors come to us. Buying system scaffold, boards, tube and fittings is capital that pays back over years of hire income, so it is usually funded as its own facility rather than off the overdraft that runs your wages. The stock itself can serve as the security, new or used, and the term is matched to the hire life of the gear. It keeps your working capital line free for the crew and the progress claims.

Yes, and the plant is normally the security rather than your property. Trucks, trailers, forklifts and telehandlers that move and handle scaffold can all be funded new or used through truck finance and material handling finance. Terms are typically matched to the life of the asset, and established firms can often be assessed on bank statements and BAS rather than full financials. Dealer and manufacturer programs are available too, which we compare against a bank facility.

By funding the work you have done but not yet been paid for, which is where a scaffolding firm's cash gets locked up. Wages, transport and hire costs are paid weekly while a progress claim is certified and settled weeks later, so the facility carries that gap. We size it to the peak of your work in progress, not an average month, and set the drawdown and repayment around your claim cycle. Bring us the contract and the claim schedule early, subject to serviceability and lender approval.

Yes. Many lenders assess established businesses on 6 to 12 months of bank statements and recent BAS rather than full year-end financials, which suits contractors whose accounts lag a fast-growing workload. It works best where the trading account shows regular certified claim payments and the ATO position is current. If you have a payment plan in place, say so early, because several lenders will still proceed when it is disclosed and being met.

Yes. Buying out a competitor, taking on a second yard or stepping up to larger contracts are all fundable, and the assessment weighs what you are acquiring against what it will earn. An acquisition usually brings a stock holding, a crew and a book of hire income, and we bring the target's stock and contracts into the picture rather than the balance sheet alone. Vendor and earn-out structures are catered for, and property in the deal can support the size, subject to serviceability, lender appetite and approval.

Yes, where the trading supports the repayments. A tax bill that lands between progress claims is a timing problem rather than a trading one, and several lenders will fund an ATO or BAS obligation, or refinance an existing payment plan, when the claims behind it are clear. Disclose the position early, because a plan that is in place and being met is treated very differently from one that is ignored. We match the facility to the claim cycle so the repayments fall when the money arrives.

Yes, and it is a commercial property deal rather than a working capital one. A scaffolding yard, hardstand and workshop are assessed on the property and your trading together, and owner-occupiers can generally borrow a higher proportion than a passive investor would. Owning the yard takes a rising rent out of your cost base and builds an asset alongside the business. Our commercial property team handles these end to end through our yard and workshop property finance service.

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 for your scaffolding yard, we also assist with scaffolding and materials-handling finance and working capital. On asset finance, that covers trucks and trailers along with forklifts and telehandlers for moving scaffold. On working capital, we arrange business overdrafts, lines of credit, scaffold stock funding and WIP finance between progress claims. We also arrange commercial mortgages if you are buying or refinancing a yard and workshop.