Leasing office equipment used to be seen as the fallback option, something businesses did when they couldn’t afford to buy outright. That’s no longer how the numbers read. According to the British Business Bank’s Small Business Finance Markets Report 2026, the share of UK SMEs using leasing and hire purchase has more than doubled since 2012, from 6% to 13%, and total asset finance flows reached £24.4 billion in 2025, the fifth consecutive year of growth. Leasing has become the choice businesses make deliberately, not the one they settle for.
Here’s what’s actually driving that shift, and what it means if you’re weighing up a printer or photocopier lease for your London business.
It keeps cash in the business, not tied up in hardware
Buying a photocopier outright means paying for the whole machine upfront, out of working capital that could otherwise go toward stock, staff, or growth. Leasing spreads that cost into fixed monthly payments instead, and HMRC treats those payments as a straightforward business expense, deductible against profits as you pay them.
That’s a genuinely simpler position than owning the equipment. A business that buys outright has to work out capital allowances, and under the Annual Investment Allowance can claim up to £1 million a year on qualifying plant and machinery, but only if there’s enough taxable profit to use that relief against. A business that leases skips that calculation entirely. The rental goes through the accounts the same way rent or a phone contract would.
Your equipment doesn’t get left behind
Buy a photocopier outright and there’s no natural point to replace it. Most businesses run owned equipment for years past the point it’s actually serving them well, because replacing it means finding fresh capital for something that technically still works. Leasing builds a renewal point into the contract, so the business is on newer, faster, more efficient equipment on a predictable cycle instead of running old hardware into the ground.
You’re not on your own when something breaks
A lease from Ctrl Print isn’t just financing for a machine. It comes with a 4-hour guaranteed service call response, next-day delivery of consumables, and genuine parts and toner, backed by a 97% first-fix rate. Buy a photocopier outright and a breakdown is entirely your problem to sort out. Lease it properly and it’s ours.
We also work across output management, document management, and mobile and cloud printing, so a lease can cover the software your team actually uses the equipment through, not just the hardware sitting in the corner of the office.
What a properly structured lease should look like
Not every leasing contract is worth signing, and this is where we spend most of our time with new customers. A contract worth having is clear about its length, doesn’t renew automatically without you noticing, and doesn’t quietly charge more to leave than the equipment is worth. If you’re currently stuck in a lease that doesn’t meet that bar, we help businesses get out of those contracts, not just sign new ones, because we work as independent advisors rather than tying customers to a single manufacturer’s product line.
If you’re weighing up a new lease, replacing ageing equipment, or want a second opinion on a contract you’re already in, get in touch with Ctrl Print and we’ll talk through what fits your business.