Breathing Apparatus Finance

Spread the cost of self-contained breathing apparatus and compressor fill stations from £1,000 to £40,000+ with flexible finance options. HP, lease, or refinance, compare rates from 40+ lenders.

Can you finance a breathing apparatus?

Yes, breathing apparatuss are financed as a standard asset purchase, usually on hire purchase or a lease, with the machine itself acting as the security. UK prices typically run £1,000 to £40,000, and most deals are written over 12–48 months with a deposit of around 10–20%. Decisions typically take 24–48 hours. Used machines are financeable too, usually with a shorter term.

Typical Cost

£1k – £40k

Approval Speed

24–48 hours

Longer for compressor and fill stations

Rates From

7.5% APR

What would a breathing apparatus cost per month?

Breathing Apparatus price (ex VAT) £8,000

Deposit 10%

Agreement term 60 months

Annual interest rate 9%

Balloon payment £0

Your estimate

Indicative only. Not a quote and not an offer of finance.

Pre-filled with a typical breathing apparatus price. Indicative only, not a quote.

Finance options

Hire Purchase (HP)

Rate: From 8.0% APR
Term: 12–48 months
Deposit: 10–20%
Ownership: Yours at the end
Best for: Fire and rescue contractors and industrial safety teams wanting to own their kit

Finance Lease

Rate: From 7.5% APR
Term: 12–48 months
Deposit: None required
Ownership: Return or buy (balloon payment)
Best for: Tax-efficient for equipping a new confined-space or standby rescue team

Refinance

Rate: From 8.5% APR
Term: 12–36 months
Deposit: None, releases equity
Ownership: Retained throughout
Best for: Releasing cash from an existing fleet of sets to fund a compressor station

Representative example

On a purchase price of £8,000: a 10% deposit of £800, then 48 monthly payments of £169 at 5.9% APR representative (fixed). Total amount payable £8,912, including the deposit. The rate you are offered depends on your business and the asset.

What buyers actually specify

Guide prices for sizing a finance agreement, not quotes. Manufacturers in this market mostly price on application, so where a current UK list price could not be confirmed the row describes a specification class rather than naming a model. Your supplier quote is what the agreement is written against.

Machine or specification	Guide price	Type
Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) Set	£1,500 – £3,000	SCBA Set (specification class)
Escape Breathing Apparatus (EBA) Kit	£1,000 – £2,000	Escape Breathing Apparatus (specification class)
Compressor and Cascade Air Fill Station	£15,000 – £40,000	Air Fill Station (specification class)

Tax benefits

Breathing apparatus equipment usually qualifies for Annual Investment Allowance (AIA), letting a business deduct the full cost from taxable profits in the year of purchase, up to £1,000,000. HP agreements allow capital allowances to be claimed by the business making the payments. Lease payments are generally deductible against profits as a business expense rather than qualifying for AIA directly.

Market context

Breathing apparatus is bought by industrial safety teams, confined-space and standby rescue contractors, private fire brigades on large industrial sites, and specialist training providers. Finance is used because a full set of self-contained breathing apparatus, mask, cylinder and harness, needs to be bought in quantity to equip a whole team, and a compressor and cascade fill station to keep cylinders charged is a further significant cost on top. Replacement is driven mainly by cylinders and masks reaching their certified test or service-life expiry, and by breathing apparatus needing regular testing and recertification throughout its working life, which keeps demand for new and replacement sets fairly steady rather than tied to fashion or technology change. The used market for individual sets is limited, since buyers need confidence in the full service and test history of safety-critical equipment, so most is bought new from an authorised supplier.

Frequently asked questions

Can I finance a full team's worth of breathing apparatus in one agreement?

Yes. Most businesses equipping a rescue or confined-space team need several identical sets at once, and lenders are used to financing a batch of sets under a single agreement provided they're on one supplier quote. This is usually more straightforward than financing each set separately and keeps the monthly cost to a single payment while the team is being built up.

Should I finance a compressor and fill station separately from the breathing sets?

It can be financed together or separately, and which makes sense depends on whether you're buying both at once or adding the fill station later once your team and set numbers have grown. Many smaller operators start by having cylinders refilled externally and finance their own compressor once volume justifies it, at which point it's usually treated as its own, larger finance agreement.

What deposit is typical for breathing apparatus finance?

Hire purchase deposits are usually 10–20%. Because breathing apparatus is safety-critical and needs a verifiable service history, new businesses without trading history may be asked for a higher deposit or a personal guarantee, since the resale market depends heavily on buyers being able to trust the equipment's maintenance record. Businesses with an ongoing maintenance or inspection contract that requires certified equipment sometimes find this strengthens the application, since it demonstrates a genuine and recurring operational need.

How quickly can breathing apparatus finance be approved?

Most applications for sets under £20,000 are approved within 24 to 48 hours. Larger applications involving a compressor and fill station can take a little longer, since the lender is assessing a bigger, more specialist piece of equipment alongside the breathing sets themselves. It's worth having your supplier's quote, including the test and certification details for each set, ready before applying, since this is often what a lender wants to see first.