Orion sells warehouse automation on finance — the customer owns the asset at the end, the cash stays on their balance sheet today, and the monthly payment usually sits well inside the labour savings the system delivers. Every reason a buyer should pick a monthly plan over a lump-sum cheque — pulled apart by theme, with the objections sales teams hear most.
Skip to the section that matches your seat. Each persona's three most relevant reasons sit one click away.
You're the founder, MD or owner-operator. Cash is the constraint, growth is the goal. Keep capital free to act on the next opportunity.
You sign off the case. You care about full expensing, AIA, interest deductibility, ratios and the audit trail. The accountant's lens.
Vacancies are climbing, throughput targets aren't. Get the system live this quarter — not after the next budget refresh.
The system has to grow with the operation. Modular Helix, conveyor extensions, AMR additions — financed the same way, not from scratch.
You're focused on the next 3–5 years. First-mover advantage, capacity for tenders, balance sheet readability for investors and acquirers.
Every pound spent on automation is a pound that can't be spent on stock, payroll, new sites, or a downturn cushion. Finance lets you have both.
A £500K conveyor system signed today is £500K not sitting in the business when a recession, big restock or expansion opportunity arrives. Spreading the cost over the finance term keeps the cash cushion intact.
Typical preserved: £250K–£2MA well-sized automation system removes labour cost that already exceeds the monthly finance payment. The system pays for itself month-by-month — no capital outlay required.
Common: 1.5–3× monthly coverMarketing, recruitment, new product lines, IT upgrades — all compete for the same pot. A monthly payment for automation doesn't steal that pot.
Free for: growth, hiring, R&DAsset finance sits separate from your operating credit. Bank lines, supplier terms and overdraft headroom stay clean — so you can still borrow against them when needed.
Headroom kept: 100%Fixed monthly payments make budgeting trivial. No big spike on the P&L. Forecasts, board packs and cash-flow models all stay smooth.
Variance: ±0% (fixed)A fixed monthly finance payment locks in cost today. Living Wage, NI, agency rates and recruitment costs keep climbing. The gap between your fixed cost and rising labour cost widens every year.
Living Wage: +9.8% (Apr 2024)The HMRC and balance-sheet maths are not the headline reason most operators choose finance — but they are the reason most CFOs sign it off.
UK companies can deduct 100% of the cost of new qualifying plant & machinery from year-1 taxable profits under HMRC's full expensing scheme (permanent since the 2024 Spring Budget). The customer owns the asset under the finance agreement — the allowance is theirs, not the lender's.
CT relief: up to 25% of capital costIf full expensing doesn't apply (e.g. used kit, non-company structure), the £1M Annual Investment Allowance still gives 100% first-year relief up to that ceiling. Most warehouse automation projects sit inside it comfortably.
AIA limit: £1M / yearThe interest element of every monthly payment is a trading expense — comes off profit. So the customer gets the capital allowance up front and ongoing interest deductions across the term. Pure cash purchase only gets the allowance.
Double tax benefit vs cash buyThis is hire purchase, not a lease. The asset is on the customer's balance sheet from day one and 100% theirs at the end of the term — no residual, no return, no buyout. You get the cash-flow benefit of monthly payments and the ownership outcome of an outright purchase.
End-of-term: own the asset outrightOn UK HP agreements, VAT on the capital element is usually paid at signing and reclaimed in the next return — same as a cash purchase. Some structures spread VAT over the term — both routes are workable, the finance team will recommend based on the customer's VAT position.
VAT treatment: same as outrightOrion finance packages can include scheduled maintenance and parts cover in the monthly payment. Cost is fixed, predictable, off the maintenance budget — no end-of-year invoice spikes.
Maintenance budget shock: zeroThe longest part of an automation project is usually getting it approved. Finance shortens that by reframing the spend from CapEx to OpEx.
Companies plan large CapEx cheques 12–18 months ahead. New capacity problems rarely fit that cycle. Spreading the cost on finance lets a customer act on a capacity problem when it appears — not on the next budget refresh.
Saves: 6–12 months3–5 year finance term, 18–30 month payback on labour savings. The system generates net positive cash long before the final payment is due — the rest of the term is pure margin.
Net positive: ~18 monthsHelix modular sortation, conveyor extensions and AMR fleet additions can be added on subsequent finance facilities through the same lender — no fresh underwriting from scratch. The system grows with you, finance grows with it.
Modular finance: yesConveyors, sortation, WCS software, P&A printers, vision systems — all under one finance agreement. One signature, one monthly payment, one schedule. Not five.
Consolidates: hardware + softwareThe competitor down the road is making the same call. Finance lets you be the first one to actually press go.
A rival saving cash for an outright purchase is 6–18 months behind. By the time they sign, you've banked savings, taken extra capacity, won the contract.
First-mover advantage: 12–18moCapacity is often the constraint on winning new business. Financed automation removes that constraint immediately — before the contract demands it.
Capacity unlock: same quarterPay the final instalment and the equipment is 100% yours — no residual to negotiate, no return condition to argue, no renewal cycle. The benefit of an outright purchase, the cash-flow of a monthly payment.
Ownership: 100% at term endA modern, automated, well-financed operation reads as "ready to scale" — not "needs capital". Useful for PE conversations, sale processes or investor diligence.
Valuation lens: positiveThe cost of doing nothing keeps climbing. Wage inflation, recruitment difficulty and energy prices are pushing the breakeven for automation closer every quarter.
UK warehousing has 200K+ unfilled roles in 2026. Even with rising wages, you cannot recruit your way out of capacity problems. Automation isn't a "nice to have", it's the only way some operators stay open.
UK warehousing vacancy: 200K+Orion systems are built in Chichester. UK finance providers know the kit, know the lead times, know the residuals. Approvals are faster, terms are better, currency risk is zero.
FX risk: none · Approvals: fastThe summary a CFO can read in 30 seconds.
Lifted from real sales calls. Print this page, fold it, keep it in the laptop bag.
Send the customer's site footprint, throughput target and current labour bill. The Orion finance specialist will return an indicative monthly, total cost, tax position and payback period — same day.