Despite the difficulties that the pandemic has created in the world of lending, we have still been very busy and have completed on some fantastic deals over the last few months. We have also seen some real success stories and businesses that have seized the opportunities that have arisen during a difficult time.
I caught up with a few of our partners recently, to find out about some of the great deals they have been working on:
“A family run Limited Company that specialised in wholesale of sports clothing to High Street retailers was immediately affected by the lockdown. They took the decision to change the business model and operate as an on-line retailer. The costs of re-stocking and setting up an on-line platform totalled £100k. Having been unable to gain assistance from their bank they contacted SWBF. We successfully arranged a loan facility which resulted in the client receiving the full funds into their account within 7 days.”
“A domiciliary care company was introduced to me by a residential mortgage broker. They were seeking to diversify their business by purchasing a long-established specialist care home for adults with disabilities. They did not fit the criteria for most high street lenders, as they were put in the same sector as elderly care and as such the subject home was too small, having only 6 residents. Two banks were very interested initially, but due to restrictions with account opening for new businesses, largely due to COVID, they were unable to assist. We were able to place the deal with a trusted lender, who provided £400,000 plus fees to complete the transaction. What made this deal particularly good, especially in the times we are in, was that the freehold value of the property was £400,000 so they effectively lent 100% of the bricks and mortar value.”
“A new client approached us shortly after the beginning of the first lockdown in 2020, after their existing broker advised that they could no longer help. The client had taken on the lease of café premises in January 2020, and three months later had to close due to COVID restrictions. The elderly owner of the property who lived on the upper floors had to go into care leaving the residential accommodation empty, and in need to refurbishment. The relatives of the owner decided to sell the premises and gave our client first refusal at a purchase price of £250,000. The client did not own their own property and had only three months financial information for the café so we knew this was going to be a challenge. On top of this, the property was Grade II listed. However we managed to secure a term loan of £120,000 to support the purchase of the premises, and secure the long term future of the business.”