Sole trader?
Lease the van in your name.

Yes. As a sole trader you and the business are the same legal entity, so the funder assesses your personal credit file alongside the trading income. Many will still quote you on business contract hire terms rather than pushing you onto a personal agreement.

Photo ID, proof of address, three to six months of business bank statements and usually your latest SA302 with the tax year overview. If you have been trading two years or more, that combination is normally enough on its own.

No. Trading below the threshold is completely normal and does not stop you leasing. It only means there is no VAT to reclaim on the rentals, so you compare the VAT-inclusive figure instead — which we will always quote alongside the ex-VAT one.

As a sole trader you are personally liable for the agreement in any case, so a separate guarantee is often not required. Where trading history is short, a funder may ask for a guarantor instead — someone else who agrees to cover the rentals if you cannot.

Yes, three-month and in some cases zero initial rental deals are available to sole traders. The lower the amount up front, the higher the monthly rental, so we will show you two or three structures side by side and let you pick the cash-flow shape that suits.