Business funding for hair and beauty salons

Salons borrow for a fit-out, for equipment such as lasers and treatment beds, for a second salon or to buy an existing one. Equipment fits hire purchase or leasing, and a fit-out or purchase needs a business loan. Check the licensing first: London boroughs license many treatments, Wales licenses tattooing, piercing, electrolysis and acupuncture, and England is consulting on limiting some injectable and laser treatments to healthcare professionals.

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What salons borrow for

A fit-out

Backwashes, styling stations, plumbing, lighting, flooring and a reception desk turn an empty unit into a salon. The fixed work is paid from a business loan and the movable equipment can be financed separately.

Treatment equipment

Laser and IPL machines, skin analysis systems and treatment beds are identifiable assets, so they fit hire purchase or a lease, secured on the machine.

A second salon

A second site is judged on the first salon’s figures, with the lender checking that the existing business covers the new repayments while the new one builds a client list.

Buying a salon

Buying an established salon means paying for its client list, its staff and its fit-out. Acquisition finance covers the purchase, and the lender reads the seller’s accounts as closely as yours.

Takings, chair rental and who can apply

A salon is paid at the end of each appointment, by card, and pays rent, products and staff weekly or monthly. December, the wedding season and the weeks before holidays fill the column; January is thin. A lender will read your card processor statements and booking system reports to see how full the diary is and what share of the takings comes from repeat clients.

Many salons rent chairs or rooms to self-employed stylists and therapists. Rental income is steady and a lender counts it, but it will ask for the agreements, because a stylist who leaves takes the rent and often the clients. Where staff are employed, the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over is £12.71 an hour from April 2026 and £13.21 from April 2027, and a lender will rework your costs at those rates.

A funding search through Swoop is open to limited companies and LLPs, and to sole traders and partnerships borrowing more than £25,000. A sole trader borrowing less than that should look at the government’s Start Up Loans scheme or their own bank.

Traders selling bread at a stall in Borough Market, London

Licences and the proposed rules for lasers and injectables

In London, premises offering treatments such as laser and IPL, nail treatments, massage, electrolysis, sunbeds, piercing and tattooing need a special treatment licence from the borough under the London Local Authorities Act 1991. When the salon is sold, the new owner applies to transfer the licence.

In Wales, since 29 November 2024, anyone performing acupuncture, body piercing, electrolysis or tattooing, including semi-permanent make-up and microblading, needs a special procedure licence from the local authority, and the premises need an approval certificate.

In England the government published a consultation on 21 October 2026, closing on 13 January 2027, proposing that certain injectable and laser treatments be performed only by doctors, dentists, independent prescribing nurses, midwives and pharmacists, with the Care Quality Commission enforcing it. If your plan depends on a non-medical practitioner carrying out those treatments, a lender will ask how the business works if the rules change. Read the consultation before you finance an aesthetics machine.

A laser machine on a lease

Illustrative example

A salon adds a laser hair removal machine. The rate and the margin per treatment are assumptions; the finance company sets the real rate.

Machine cost
£30,000
Term
48 months
Interest rate (assumed)
10% a year
Monthly payment
£760.88
Total paid
£36,522.12
Interest over the term
£6,522.12
Margin per treatment after products and the therapist’s time (assumed)
£60
Treatments a month to cover the payment
13

Every treatment after the thirteenth in a month is profit before overheads. Run your own quote through the asset finance calculator.

What worries a lender about a salon

The first worry is that the clients follow the people. If the owner or a senior stylist leaves, the client list can leave too. A lender reads the booking system to see the number of regular clients each person looks after, and asks about notice periods and restrictive covenants in employment contracts.

The second is the equipment. A laser machine loses value as newer models arrive, and its value to a lender depends on whether it can be resold. Buy from a supplier who provides servicing records and a resale route. The third is the lease: a salon that has paid for an expensive fit-out on a short lease can lose the unit before the loan is repaid.

Have these ready when you apply:

Documents for a salon application

Your own position as the owner

A small salon depends on its owner. If you cannot work for six months, the takings fall while the lease and the finance payments carry on. Income protection and key person cover pay out in that situation, and a relevant life policy provides death cover through the company. Business protection.

If your loan has a personal guarantee, find out whether it is capped and when it ends. What a personal guarantee means for a director. When you come to sell, the buyer pays for a client list that stays, so the steps that reassure a lender also raise the price. Selling your business.

Asset finance calculator

The monthly payment on equipment or vehicle finance with a deposit and a balloon payment, and what the finance costs in total.

Open the calculator

Questions people ask

Can I get finance for a laser machine?

Yes. A laser or IPL machine can be bought on hire purchase or leased, with the finance company holding the machine as security. The provider will look at the supplier, the machine’s resale value and your trading record. Check the licensing first: London boroughs license laser treatments, and England is consulting on limiting some laser treatments to healthcare professionals.

How do I fund a salon fit-out?

The fixed work, such as plumbing, electrics, flooring and decoration, is paid from a business loan or your own money, because a lender cannot take it back. The movable equipment, such as backwashes, chairs and treatment beds, can be financed on hire purchase or a lease. A lender will want the quotes, your accounts or business plan, and a lease that runs beyond the end of the loan.

Do I need a licence to open a beauty salon?

It depends where you are and what you offer. In London many treatments need a special treatment licence from the borough. In Wales, tattooing, semi-permanent make-up, piercing, electrolysis and acupuncture need a practitioner licence and approved premises. Elsewhere in England, ask your council which of your treatments it registers or licenses, and read the government’s October 2026 proposals for injectables and lasers.

Can a self-employed hairdresser get a business loan?

Yes. A sole trader borrowing more than £25,000 can use a funding search through Swoop, and lenders will read your tax returns, bank statements and bookings. For smaller sums, look at the government’s Start Up Loans scheme or your own bank. A sole trader’s business debts are personal debts, so think about trading through a limited company as the business grows.

Finance is subject to status and to the lender’s terms. A personal guarantee makes you liable for the company’s debt if it does not repay, and it can be enforced against your own assets, including your home. Nothing here is a personal recommendation.

Funding by sector

Equipment leasing

A lease lets the business use equipment for a monthly rental while the funder keeps ownership.

Read more →

Hire purchase for business

Hire purchase spreads the cost of an asset over monthly payments, and the business owns it once the last one is made.

Read more →

Business funding for gyms and fitness studios

Gyms fund equipment, fit-outs and new sites in different ways, and lenders judge them on membership income.

Read more →

Acquisition finance

Senior debt, asset-backed lending, vendor finance and equity stacked to fund the purchase of a business.

Read more →
All business funding

Start a funding search

Start a funding search

Funding searches run on Swoop’s platform. Swoop Finance Limited is a credit broker and not a lender, and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 936513). Buzz Accounting Ltd introduces businesses to Swoop and may receive a fee from Swoop when funding is arranged. Business funding is separate from the financial advice Equity & General Financial Services Limited gives through this website. Finance is subject to status, and a lender may ask a director for a personal guarantee.

Cover for a personal guarantee

If a lender asks you to guarantee the company’s borrowing, our advisers can advise on life cover for that debt.

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