Hire vs buy is a straightforward calculation once you factor in storage, maintenance and quantity flexibility. A real cost comparison.
Hire vs buy is a straightforward calculation once you factor in storage, maintenance and quantity flexibility. A real cost comparison.
The hire versus buy question comes down to a straightforward calculation once you factor in all the costs of ownership. Purchase price is only the starting point.
50 chiavari chairs hired at £2.50 per chair per event costs £125 per event. Buying 50 chiavari chairs at a budget grade of £25 each costs £1,250 upfront. On purchase price alone, break-even comes at 10 uses. Most businesses that run events fewer than 10 times per year are already in hire territory on this basis alone, before factoring in the additional costs of ownership.
50 chairs and 10 tables require a dedicated storage space. A self-storage unit in most UK cities costs £100–£200 per month. Over 12 months, that is £1,200–£2,400 in storage costs on top of the purchase price. For many businesses, storage alone pushes the break-even point well past what the purchase calculation suggests. If you are storing furniture in your own premises, calculate the square footage cost: that space has an alternative use.
Purchased chairs scratch, break and fade. Budget for 5–10% replacement per year on budget-grade furniture. Hire companies absorb this cost as part of their business: their stock is inspected between hires and damaged items are replaced. You pay the hire rate for a chair in working condition, not a chair that has been through 40 events without maintenance.
Hired quantities can vary per event: 50 one month, 200 the next. Owned stock is fixed. If you over-buy to cover your largest event, you pay storage costs for the difference between your average event and your peak event every month of the year. Hire scales with the event rather than the other way around.
Hire costs are a fully deductible revenue expense in the same accounting period. Capital purchases attract depreciation and the tax recovery is spread across multiple years. For VAT-registered businesses, the treatment of hire costs as a straightforward operating expense often makes the accounting simpler and the cashflow impact smaller than a capital purchase.
If you run six or more events per year, ask your hire company whether an account arrangement makes sense. Some hire companies offer reduced rates for regular customers with predictable order volumes. The savings on a 12-month account can shift the hire versus buy calculation further in hire's favour, particularly for standard items like banqueting chairs and trestle tables.
Single events, uncertain future demand, events of varying sizes, limited storage and venues with difficult access all point to hire. The calculation only favours ownership for organisations running identical events at a single owned venue multiple times per year with reliable storage and maintenance infrastructure. Browse the full furniture range to check current hire rates for your requirements.
For events held once or twice a year, buying furniture makes no financial sense. A set of 100 Chiavari chairs costs around £3,500 to buy. At a hire price of £3 per chair, hiring the same 100 chairs 12 times costs £3,600 — roughly purchase cost. But purchased chairs also need storage, maintenance, and transport, which often costs more than the chairs themselves. Hire is generally cheaper for anything used fewer than 10 times a year.
Hotels, sports clubs, and conference centres that hold events weekly often own core furniture — round tables and stacking chairs — and hire supplementary pieces for larger or premium events. This is a practical split: owned furniture covers the standard load, hired furniture covers overflows and upgrades.
The calculation that changes most minds is storage. 100 chairs need roughly 4 to 6 square metres of clean, dry storage. 20 round tables need 8 to 10 square metres. Commercial storage costs money. Hire eliminates the storage requirement entirely.
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