How Do Dark Kitchens Fund Fit-Out and Equipment?

The funding challenge for dark and ghost kitchens

Dark kitchens carry a kitchen fit-out and equipment cost with no front-of-house, earning through delivery-platform orders where commissions and payout timing shape cash flow. Money leaves the business before it comes back, and for dark and ghost kitchens that gap has a particular shape — around equipment, stock, seasonality or the wait for payment. Naming the shape is how you avoid borrowing the wrong way and overpaying for it.

The facility that tends to fit

The natural route here is business lofor fit-out, plus asset finance for equipment. It matches the need rather than forcing a one-size loan onto a specific problem, and where a firm has both an asset to fund and a cash gap to bridge, two matched facilities usually cost less than one stretched to do both. Credicorp lends to limited companies and LLPs with no personal guarantee. Read the underlying guide before committing.

Put real numbers behind it

Size it with our break-even calculator and the asset finance guide on Learn. A figure taken from a forecast, with repayments matched to when cash actually arrives, beats a round number every time.

How lenders view the trade

Our sector page for dark and ghost kitchens sets out what a lender looks at, and the general answers on whether your sector affects borrowing and how affordability is assessed give the wider picture. When ready, you can apply. General information, not an offer of finance.