Lendus.

Fish Grader Finance

Spread the cost of a fish grader from £8,000 to £80,000 with flexible finance options. HP, lease, or refinance, compare rates from 40+ lenders.

Can you finance a fish grader?

Yes, fish graders 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 £8,000 to £80,000, and most deals are written over 24–72 months with a deposit of around 10–20%. Decisions typically take 3–5 working days. Used machines are financeable too, usually with a shorter term.

200+ UK lenders
2-minute application
No credit check to apply
FCA-regulated brokers

Typical Cost

£8k – £80k

Approval Speed

3–5 working days

Faster for like-for-like replacements

Rates From

4.5% APR

What would a fish grader cost per month?

£25,000
10%
60 months
9%
£0

Your estimate

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

Pre-filled with a typical fish grader price. Indicative only, not a quote.

Compare fish grader finance rates from 200+ lenders

Check Eligibility

Finance options

Hire Purchase (HP)

Rate
From 4.9% APR
Term
24–72 months
Deposit
10–20%
Ownership
Yours at the end
Best for
Fish farms wanting to own grading equipment outright

Finance Lease

Rate
From 4.5% APR
Term
24–72 months
Deposit
None required
Ownership
Return or buy (balloon payment)
Best for
Tax-efficient, claim 100% of payments against profit

Operating Lease

Rate
From 5.2% APR
Term
24–48 months
Deposit
None required
Ownership
Return at end
Best for
Access the latest grading technology without capital outlay

Representative example

On a purchase price of £25,000: a 10% deposit of £2,500, then 48 monthly payments of £527 at 5.9% APR representative (fixed). Total amount payable £27,796, 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
Manual Bar Grader (small site class) £8,000 – £18,000 Bar Grader
Automated Roller Grader (mid-scale site class) £20,000 – £40,000 Roller Grader
Smart Camera Grading System (vision-based sizing class) £35,000 – £60,000 Vision Grader
High-Throughput Drum Grader (large site class) £50,000 – £80,000 Drum Grader

Ready to compare fish grader finance? 2 minutes, no credit check.

Check Eligibility

Tax benefits

Fish graders are moveable plant and generally qualify for the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA), letting an operator deduct the full cost from taxable profits in the year of purchase, up to £1,000,000, subject to the normal AIA rules. HP gives access to capital allowances directly; lease payments are normally deductible from profits. Because a grader is deployed at a specific site but remains a freestanding, transportable unit rather than a fixture, it is treated as ordinary plant even where it stays at one site for its whole working life.

Market context

Fish graders are bought by salmon, trout and other finfish farms operating under a site licence from the relevant marine and environmental authorities, and it is that licence, setting the stock the site is permitted to hold, rather than the grading equipment itself, that is usually the binding constraint on how much a farm can produce. Grading equipment is used to sort stock by size for feeding, transfer and harvest, and specification is chosen to match a site's throughput and species. Because equipment on a marine or brackish site is exposed to a corrosive saltwater environment, working life is generally shorter than for comparable land-based farm equipment, and replacement is driven mainly by corrosion and mechanical wear rather than a fixed age. A specialist used market exists through equipment dealers serving the aquaculture sector, who recondition and re-certify graders removed during a site upgrade.

Bad credit?

Several of our 200+ lenders specialise in businesses with imperfect credit histories. You may need a larger deposit or personal guarantee, but options exist. Checking your options here does not affect your credit score, because we do not run a credit search to match you. A lender will run their own checks only if you decide to apply.

Compare rates from 200+ lenders, takes 2 minutes.

Check Eligibility

Frequently asked questions

Does my site licence affect the finance I can get?
It can. A lender assessing a grading equipment application will often ask about a site's stocking licence, since the licence sets the maximum stock a farm can hold and therefore the throughput the grader needs to handle. A stable, long-held licence generally makes lenders more comfortable with the investment case than a newly granted or contested one. A lender will generally want sight of the relevant licence or contract early in the process, so having it ready alongside your accounts helps keep the application moving quickly.
Can I finance used or refurbished fish graders?
Yes. Most lenders finance refurbished graders from specialist aquaculture equipment dealers, provided the unit has been serviced and checked for corrosion damage. Because saltwater exposure shortens working life relative to land-based equipment, a documented maintenance history matters more here than for comparable farm machinery. Ask the supplier for full service and inspection records before agreeing a price, since clear provenance makes the equipment easier to value and can improve the terms on offer.
What deposit do I need?
For hire purchase, most lenders ask for a 10-20% deposit. Finance leases and operating leases often require no deposit, which suits a farm timing a grader upgrade around a stocking or harvest cycle. A larger deposit reduces the monthly payment on the higher-cost vision and drum grader options. A larger deposit is worth considering if you would rather keep monthly payments as low as possible, though most buyers in this sector choose a smaller deposit to preserve working capital.
How quickly can grader finance be approved?
Most applications are approved within a few working days once the supplier quote is confirmed. A larger installation tied to a wider site upgrade, or one where a lender wants to see the site's stocking licence, may take slightly longer to finalise. Having your last set of accounts and a recent bank statement ready before applying is the easiest way to avoid the process taking longer than it needs to.

Related equipment finance

More marine finance

See how lenders treat marine assets

Guides and resources

Ready to finance your fish grader?

Compare rates from 200+ lenders. No credit check.

Check Eligibility →
Check Eligibility, 2 min, no credit check