One of the most common questions our UK business clients ask us has nothing to do with marketing. It is some version of: do you know anyone good for business finance? When the answer matters, we send them to ELS in Leicestershire. This post explains why, who they help, and how their two flagship products work for UK SMEs and schools.
| 48-72h Typical Approval Time | FCA Authorised & Regulated | Whole Of Market Independent Broker | Guild Founding Members |
UK SMEs and schools spend an enormous amount of time worrying about cashflow that they do not need to worry about. The equipment that would unlock real growth gets postponed because the upfront cost feels too painful. The seasonal lull between contracts gets weathered out of reserves rather than bridged with the right product. The right finance partner solves both problems quietly in the background, which is exactly what ELS do.
Who ELS Are
ELS, formally Equipment Leasing Solutions Ltd, is a UK business finance broker based in Stoney Stanton in Leicestershire. They are FCA authorised and regulated under firm reference 744837, and they operate as a whole of market broker rather than tying clients into a single funder.
The business is led by founder Stuart McKee, who built ELS around a simple idea captured in their tagline: unlock your potential, not your capital. The point being that growing businesses should not have to drain their working capital to invest in the equipment, energy projects or cashflow support they need to grow. ELS exist to spread those costs into manageable monthly payments through a panel of trusted UK and Canadian funders including Siemens, Premium Credit, Armada Credit Group, PEAC, Fleximize, YouLend, Room 12 and MaxCorp.
They are also founding members of the Guild of Business Finance Professionals, an independent body committed to ethics, excellence and education across the industry. Worth knowing because business finance is one of those sectors where the standards across brokers vary wildly, and being a founding member of an industry body that exists to raise those standards tells you something about how the team operates.
| Featured Partner: ELS UK business finance and equipment leasing for SMEs, schools and academies. FCA regulated. Whole of market. Approvals in 48 to 72 hours. Visit ELS → |
Two Products Worth Knowing About
ELS offer a wide range of finance products covering equipment, energy, education, vehicles, hospitality, healthcare and more. For most of our marketing clients, two products come up again and again. They are worth understanding even if you have never thought about business finance before.
| 🏗️ Equipment Leasing Spread the cost of business critical equipment into monthly payments rather than paying it all upfront. Covers IT, office kit, catering, medical, beauty, dental, salon, automotive, gym and renewable energy equipment. The lease payments can usually be offset against taxable profits, so the structure is often more tax efficient than buying outright. Equipment Leasing at ELS → | 💷 Merchant Cash Advance A funding product based on your future card sales rather than traditional lending criteria. You receive a lump sum now and repay it as a small percentage of each card transaction going forward, so repayments scale up and down with your trading. Often the right answer when you need working capital fast and your business sees variable monthly turnover. Merchant Cash Advance at ELS → |
Both products solve different problems. Equipment leasing is the one most growing businesses underuse, because they default to either paying upfront and hammering cashflow, or going without and losing the upgrade entirely. The third option of leasing properly is often the most sensible answer and rarely gets considered until someone like ELS walks them through it. Merchant cash advances are different again, designed for businesses with strong card revenue who need quick working capital without the rigidity of a traditional loan.
Why We Send Clients To ELS Specifically
There are plenty of business finance brokers in the UK. The reasons we recommend ELS specifically come down to a handful of things you cannot fake.
| ⚡ Fast Approvals Most applications approved within 48 to 72 hours. | 👤 Real Account Manager A single point of contact who knows your sector. | 🌐 Whole Of Market Multiple funders, not one. Better matching for your needs. | 📋 Transparent Terms No hidden fees. Every agreement clear and structured. | 🚀 Startup Friendly Tailored options for new businesses, clinics and schools. |
The whole of market piece is important. Most business finance brokers in the UK are tied to a small panel of funders, which means the product they recommend is almost always whichever one they earn the most commission on. ELS work across multiple funders and match the funder to the requirement, which is how you end up with terms that actually fit your business rather than terms that fit theirs.
Real Examples From The ELS Case Studies
The strongest evidence for any finance partner is what they have actually delivered for other clients. Three live case studies on the ELS site illustrate the breadth of what they handle.
| 🏫 Primary School, Co. Antrim LED lighting project funded over a 7-year agreement, delivering a 58% reduction in electricity costs and projected 10-year savings of £310,665. Zero deposit required. | 🎓 Multi Academy Trust, Manchester LED lighting upgrade across four schools, delivering a 63% reduction in lighting costs, £251,005 in 10-year savings and a 560 tonne carbon emissions reduction. | 💉 Aesthetic Clinic, Northern Ireland An £80k medical aesthetic laser machine financed via lease agreement. Cashflow protected, monthly repayments affordable, no upfront deposit, no ownership burden. |
Each case study highlights a different version of the same underlying problem. A school that wanted to cut energy costs but did not have the capital sitting in reserves to fund the upgrade outright. A trust that wanted to act on environmental goals across multiple sites without disrupting their operating budget. A clinic that wanted to add a high-value service to their offering without committing £80,000 of cash to a single piece of kit. ELS solved all three through structuring rather than lending, and the businesses involved kept their working capital intact while still moving forward.
Who ELS Are Built For
ELS work with a wide range of UK businesses and education providers. The pattern across their client base is consistent: organisations that want to invest in growth, equipment or sustainability without draining their reserves to do it.
| 🏫 Schools & Academies UK-compliant operating leases for schools and Multi Academy Trusts. LED lighting, solar PV, voltage optimisation, IT equipment, playground equipment, and other capital projects financed properly without breaching DfE rules. | 🏥 Healthcare & Aesthetics Medical equipment leasing, dental practice finance, defibrillator funding, and aesthetic clinic asset finance. Designed around how clinical businesses actually purchase and use equipment. |
| 🏨 Hospitality & Catering Hotel finance, catering equipment leasing, coffee shop fit-outs and hospitality refurbishment funding. Tailored to seasonal cashflow patterns and the realities of running a hospitality business. | ⚡ Energy & Renewables LED lighting, solar PV, battery storage, ground and air source heat pumps, biomass, voltage optimisation. Funded against the savings the project will generate, not just against the business balance sheet. |
| 💼 SMEs & Startups Small business funding, startup finance, VAT loans, corporation tax loans, revolving credit facilities and short term invoice financing. The full toolkit for owner-managed UK businesses. | ⚽ Specialist Sectors Football finance, beauty and salon equipment leasing, commercial vehicle finance, vehicle technology leasing, soft play and playground finance, media leasing, PSDS and PFI funding. |
The breadth of sectors covered is one of the practical advantages of working with a broker like ELS rather than going direct to a single funder. Different funders have different sector appetites. ELS know which funder lines up with which type of business, which means your application lands on the right desk first time rather than being kicked around the market until something sticks.
How To Get In Touch
The fastest way to find out whether ELS can help with a specific project is a phone call. The team are based at Shire House, 4 Long Street, Stoney Stanton, Leicester LE9 4DQ, and you can reach them on 0116 389 3839 or by email at info@els.lease. Both routes lead to a real human who will actually pick up.
The website covers every product they offer in detail and includes a finance calculator so you can run rough numbers before making contact. If you are weighing up whether to lease or buy outright, or whether a merchant cash advance is the right answer for a working capital squeeze, that calculator is a useful starting point.
| Talk To ELS Equipment leasing, business funding, energy finance, education funding. UK-wide, FCA regulated, fast approvals. Visit ELS → |
| Need Marketing Alongside The Finance? If you have just secured the finance to invest in new equipment or expand your business, the next question is usually how to get the customers through the door. That is what we do at our agency. Browse our case studies, take a look at SEO, Facebook Ads and web design, or book a strategy call to talk it through. |
FAQ
What is the difference between equipment leasing and a business loan?
A business loan gives you a lump sum that you repay with interest, and you own whatever you bought with it. Equipment leasing spreads the cost of a specific asset into monthly payments without you needing the upfront capital, and the asset is owned by the funder for the duration of the lease. Lease payments can usually be offset against taxable profits, which often makes leasing more tax efficient than borrowing to buy outright.
What is a merchant cash advance?
A merchant cash advance is a funding product based on your future card sales rather than traditional lending criteria. You receive a lump sum now and repay it as a small percentage of each card transaction going forward. Repayments scale up and down with your trading, which makes it well suited to businesses with variable monthly turnover.
Are ELS regulated?
Yes. ELS are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference number 744837. They are also founding members of the Guild of Business Finance Professionals.
Can schools and academies access compliant leasing through ELS?
Yes. ELS provide UK-compliant operating leases designed specifically for schools and Multi Academy Trusts. That means schools can upgrade equipment, install renewable energy systems or invest in capital projects while staying within Department for Education regulations.
How fast can ELS approve a finance application?
Most applications are approved within 48 to 72 hours. That speed is one of the main reasons we send clients to them rather than waiting weeks for a traditional bank to make a decision.
Why is a marketing agency recommending a finance broker?
Because our marketing clients constantly ask us about business finance, and we want to point them somewhere we trust. ELS are a UK firm we have known for years, with a track record of looking after the kind of growing businesses we work with.
Sending them somewhere good is part of looking after our clients properly.
