Budgets always expose the gaps - and one of the biggest, even among the best operators, is debt finance. Over the past year or two, I’ve been struck by how many well-run, brilliantly operated restaurant groups are still under-advised when it comes to structuring debt. These are operators who know every inch of their business: labour, menu engineering, trading rhythm, guest mix. But ask about the finer points of their finance package and the certainty suddenly evaporates.
This isn’t ignorance. It’s habit. Hospitality has grown up trusting the same bank manager who backed the very first site. That emotional loyalty makes perfect sense - I’m the same; I’ll happily go out of my way to buy the exact same product from someone I like. But in lending, loyalty can quietly become a limitation.
After a muted few years, both high street lenders and nimble challenger banks are lending again. Appetite has returned and the market is competitive. But the real question - the one too few operators ask - is whether the debt they have is actually the best structure available to them today.
In lending, loyalty can quietly become a limitation
The headline rate tends to steal the attention, but the real impact sits in the architecture: whether a bullet at the end gives you genuine runway or backs you into a forced refinance; whether the facility fuels sustainable growth or simply plugs a hole; whether the break costs and penalties are manageable or quietly suffocating. Operators understand how crucial the right property advice is - and debt is no different. Get it right and it accelerates you. Get it wrong and it drags behind you like ballast.
The operators who are winning aren’t waiting for the budget to force the conversation. They’re pre-empting it - benchmarking lenders, comparing structures, gathering the right data early, and treating finance as a strategic lever rather than an emergency tool. They’re not reacting to pressure; they’re creating options.
With the budget approaching, this is exactly the moment to shift mindset. Because debt finance shouldn’t be something you revisit only when the numbers tighten - it should be a foundational part of how you plan, grow, and protect your business.
Rachel Reeves may pull her punches, but the operators who move early will move furthest - on their terms, with clarity, confidence and momentum.
Ted Schama is founder of advisory business One Voice Hospitality.