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How Much Does a Mobile Catering Pitch Cost?

by Craig
(Bradford West Yorkshire )

Catering van trading on a UK retail park pitch

Catering van trading on a UK retail park pitch

How much is the average patch fee for a catering van?

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May 22, 2026
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by: MobCater

Honestly Craig, this is one of those questions where the real answer is "it depends", but let me give you some genuine figures to work with rather than fob you off.

For a regular weekly pitch you're usually looking at somewhere between £25 and £300 a week, and where you land on that scale comes down almost entirely to footfall. My own best pitch for years cost me just £25 a week, and it was a cracking spot. Some private landowners charge a flat weekly rent, others will take a small percentage of your takings instead, so always ask how they want to be paid before you agree to anything. And don't rule out free pitches either. Plenty of sites, whether that's a retail park, an industrial estate or a builders' merchant, will let you trade for nothing because your van brings footfall and keeps their workers fed. It's well worth knocking on a few doors and simply asking.

If you're buying an established pitch with goodwill, the sort that's been trading for years with a loyal following, that's a different kind of money. I've seen those change hands for anything up to £5,000 as a one-off, sometimes more. This is where I'd urge real caution though. Years back someone tried to sell me a pitch for between £5,000 and £10,000, swearing blind about the takings. I did my homework and found he was actually being thrown off the site and had simply made the revenue up. So before you part with a penny, spend a couple of weeks watching how busy the place really is, and never buy on someone's word alone.

Trading on a public road or highway is another matter again, because then you need street trading consent from the council, and those fees are all over the place. Some councils charge as little as £50 for a casual day, while others run into the high hundreds or a couple of thousand a year for a prime spot. Bolton, for instance, runs it in tiers from a few days right up to twelve months. Always ring your local council's licensing team and ask before you assume anywhere is fair game.

The real question isn't just the fee, it's whether the spot earns enough to justify it. A busy pitch at £200 a week is cheap if it's putting decent money in the till, and a quiet one at £25 is dear if nobody turns up. Work out your likely daily takings first, then judge the fee against that.

Best wishes

David

Disclaimer: This is based on my experience in UK mobile catering. Rules and costs can change, so always do your own research and check with the relevant authorities before committing.

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