Restaurant loans for New Zealand full-service operators .

A NZ full-service restaurant opening commonly runs $180,000 to $700,000 or more depending on city, cover count, and brigade structure. Regional 60 to 80 cover restaurants commonly sit at $180,000 to $320,000, Wellington full-service at $220,000 to $420,000, and Auckland CBD destination openings at $400,000 to $700,000 or beyond. The total covers kitchen line capex (typically 40-55% of project), front-of-house and joinery fitout, furniture and tableware, on-licence and Food Control Plan costs, and pre-opening payroll and marketing. Most operators fund this through a term loan on the fitout plus asset finance on the kitchen line plus a working-capital line.

An on-licence is the licence required to sell and supply alcohol for consumption on the premises, granted by the local District Licensing Committee under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012. The initial term is typically three years with renewals every three years thereafter. The licence requires a Certified Manager on duty during licensed hours, a written host-responsibility policy, and compliance with the conditions imposed by the Committee. Lenders commonly note on-licence status, the Manager Certificate held by the certified manager, and the licence renewal cycle in the operator profile section of the file. A licence in active application or renewal is not a blocker but is commonly noted with a settlement condition.

The Food Act 2014 requires most food businesses including full-service restaurants to operate under a registered Food Control Plan, which sets out the food safety procedures the operator follows. The plan is verified by an MPI-recognised Verifier, which in some council areas is the council Environmental Health Officer and in others is a third-party Verifier. Verification frequency tracks the risk profile and the prior verification history of the operation, with newly registered plans commonly receiving a higher frequency until a track record is established. Lenders commonly note Food Control Plan registration and the Verifier audit history in the operator profile section of the file; recent non-conformance can affect the indicative rate band.

Indicative rates on full-service restaurant finance commonly sit in the 8% to 16% per annum band depending on structure, security, and operator profile. Asset finance on kitchen line and refrigeration secured by the equipment sits at the lower end (commonly 8-12%). Term loans on front-of-house fitout secured by personal guarantee sit in the middle (commonly 10-13%). Unsecured working-capital lines sit at the upper end (commonly 12-16%). Final rate is set by the lender after assessment. Established operators with documented prior restaurant experience, a clean Verifier history under the Food Act 2014, and a current on-licence in good standing commonly access the lower bands.

A GST-registered restaurant operator can typically claim the GST component on kitchen line capex (combi ovens, ranges, refrigeration, warewashing) and front-of-house joinery acquired under chattel mortgage as input tax in the relevant GST return, subject to the accountant's confirmation. Where the asset is acquired under chattel mortgage, the full GST is typically claimable upfront in the next return after settlement. Where it is acquired under finance lease or operating lease, GST is typically claimed across the rental payments. The structure choice affects cash-flow timing more than total cost over the life of the loan. The accountant is the right person to confirm structure choice on the specific business position.

Auckland CBD fitouts commonly run 30-45% above a comparable regional NZ project, while Wellington CBD fitouts commonly run 20-35% above regional pricing. The differential tracks lease premiums, fitout labour and material costs, joinery and services pricing, ventilation and grease trap requirements, and licensed-trade competition for skilled trades during the build window. A 60 cover fitout that costs $220,000 in a regional centre commonly costs $280,000 to $300,000 in Wellington and $300,000 to $340,000 in Auckland CBD, indicative of the cost stack rather than a quoted number. Lenders sizing the term loan tranche commonly factor the city differential into the LVR calculation.

Rational (combi ovens, particularly the iCombi Pro 6-grid and 10-grid units), Convotherm (combi ovens), Moffat (ranges, ovens, and the Turbofan and Cobra ranges), Waldorf (cooking suites, chargrills, and bain-maries), Goldstein (ranges and gas equipment), Garland (chargrills and salamanders), Skope (refrigeration and underbench units), Williams (blast chillers and refrigeration), Polar King and Coolroom Solutions (walk-in chiller and freezer construction), Hobart (warewashing including underbench, passthrough, and conveyor dishwashers), and Winterhalter (glasswashing) commonly feature in the NZ commercial-kitchen specification pool. Integrators such as Moffat NZ commonly handle multi-brand kitchen line packages.

Kitchen brigade payroll runs on a weekly cycle in most NZ full-service restaurants, with hourly-paid commis, demi-chef, chef de partie, sous chef, and head chef positions plus front-of-house wait and bar staff. Combined with produce supplier 7-day terms, beverage supplier 30-day terms, and the daily cash and EFTPOS settlement rhythm, the working-capital cycle is materially tighter than many other small-business segments. Working-capital lines of credit sized at 4 to 8 weeks of payroll plus produce spend are common, drawn down during slower trading periods and repaid during stronger weeks. Holiday pay accruals, public holiday rates under the Holidays Act 2003, and KiwiSaver employer contributions add to the cash-flow planning.

Restaurant loan applications commonly require public liability insurance (typically $5m to $10m cover sized to the cover count and licensed status), contents insurance covering kitchen line and front-of-house fitout, business interruption insurance covering loss of trading income from a covered event, and statutory liability and employers liability cover where the operation includes employees. Some lenders also note a separate cover endorsement for fryer fire and combi oven incidents. Specific cover requirements are set by the lender and can vary; a hospitality-experienced broker commonly outlines the cover stack expected by each lender. Insurance must commonly be bound before settlement of the term loan and asset finance tranches.

Where the kitchen line is financed under chattel mortgage and the restaurant business closes before the loan is repaid, the lender typically has a security interest registered on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) and can take possession of the kitchen line to recover the outstanding balance. Any shortfall between resale value and balance owing typically falls to the borrower and any personal guarantor. Used commercial kitchen line typically retains 35-55% of value in the secondary market depending on age, brand, condition, and the strength of the secondary-market buyer pool at the time; Rational, Moffat, Waldorf, Skope, and Hobart units typically retain value better than less-recognised brands. Lenders commonly work with operators to restructure repayments before resorting to repossession.

Yes. Established restaurants with 18 to 36 months of clean trading, a current on-licence under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 in good standing, and a clean Food Control Plan Verifier history under the Food Act 2014 commonly refinance from alternative-lender pricing (12-16%) into asset-finance specialist or major-bank pricing (8-11%). Refinancing is also commonly used to consolidate multiple tranches (term loan on fitout, asset finance on kitchen line, working-capital line) into a single facility, or to release equity to fund a kitchen line refresh or a second-site opening. Early-repayment fees on the original loans, the resale value position on the existing assets, and the lease term remaining are the main considerations.

Most NZ restaurant fitouts involving a commercial kitchen require building consent under the Building Act 2004 for kitchen extract canopy and ductwork, grease trap installation, and structural work to accommodate ventilation and services. The consent process runs through the local territorial authority and commonly requires a registered architect or designer to prepare the documentation. Lenders commonly want building consent confirmed before settlement of the term loan tranche tied to fitout work, because a denied or delayed consent can stall the project and affect the security position. Wellington City Council, Auckland Council, and Christchurch City Council each publish their commercial kitchen consent guidance separately.

UDC Finance has long-running familiarity with hospitality kitchen line capex and is one of the standing asset-finance lenders to the restaurant pool, particularly across combi ovens, cooking suites, refrigeration, and warewashing. ASB Business, BNZ Business, Heartland Bank, and the other major banks (ANZ, Westpac, Kiwibank) commonly fund the term loan tranche on full-service fitout and the working-capital lines for established operators with prior trading data. Prospa funds the smaller unsecured tickets that sit alongside the main tranches (pre-opening payroll, marketing, licensing). A broker familiar with the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 on-licence regime and the Food Act 2014 Food Control Plan framework commonly tightens the indicative rate band.