Case studies
Unsecured Business Loans
Case study: Electrical contractor
Our client, an electrical contractor, was struggling with cash flow after having to purchase a larger industrial unit to facilitate fast growth and create a central hub for sub-contractors and employees to work from.
The client’s priority was to keep repayments as low as possible while they moved into their new premises, so we found them a £50,000, 5-year unsecured loan at a competitive annual interest rate of 6.9%.
The client was delighted, and had the funds in their account within 4 days of their initial enquiry. This gave the business enough breathing space to comfortably move into their new premises without affecting any of their upcoming projects.
Case study: Architect
A local architect needed to settle his corporation tax bill and wanted to finish off an office refurbishment, but didn’t have enough cash available in the business to cover everything.
In under 24 hours, we provided our client with a number of flexible solutions and he went ahead with a 12-month unsecured loan with no early repayment penalties, which allows him to settle at any time.
Our client was very pleased with the swift turnaround, and we are delighted to be able to deliver another brilliant product brought to market by a non-bank lender.
Case study: Retailer
We were approached by a retailer needing £100,000 urgently to purchase stock for a large overseas order which could not wait.
We set to work immediately and found a 2-year unsecured loan which would allow the client to consolidate existing finance and cover the stock purchase. The client had the funding within 3 days and was able to make the purchase, whilst significantly reducing their monthly repayments by £600 per month.
Case study: Construction
We were contacted by a construction business needing £60,000 for tools, materials and to pay contractors for a new job they were due to start in just 3 weeks’ time.
The client needed to keep repayments low until they had completed the job and could invoice the client for the final balance. Initially, we were only able to obtain a 12-month term approval but after negotiating, we were able to get the client a 5-year unsecured loan at a rate of 9% per annum, within just 4 days.
Case study: Manufacturing
A fast-growing design and manufacturing company reached out to us to ask us to help with sourcing £150,000 they needed to fulfil new orders.
The company had impressive revenues, but because the director of the business had multiple liquidated companies, a lot of lenders were not happy to review the business. However, we spent time getting to know the business and creating an attractive proposal focusing on the current business and planned progression, before presenting it to carefully selected lenders.
We’re pleased to say that in just under a week, we managed to secure a £150,000 unsecured loan allowing the client to fulfil their new contracts and continue to grow. The client was over the moon!
Invoice Financing
Case study: Electrical parts wholesaler
An established electrical parts wholesaler reached out to us as they had just won a new contract to supply parts to an electric car manufacturer for their charging ports. The business had just gone through a growth phase, had hired more staff, spent money on equipment and new premises so margins were tight for that financial year which was reflected on their year-end account. Because of their dip in profit that year, traditional banks and alternative term loan lenders wouldn’t consider them for a loan.
They had a signed contract with the car manufacturer confirming the orders and value. We approached the invoice finance companies on our panel who swiftly put a great offer in place, advancing almost 90% of the invoice value, taking the invoice as security and collecting the payment from the car manufacturer once it was due, making repayment easy.
The client can now dip back into this facility whenever they want, only paying interest on what they use and feeling comfortable they have funds available if and when they need them.
Case study: PPE manufacturer
A PPE manufacturer company urgently required funds after winning a contract to supply the NHS with PPE. The new contract meant the manufacturer had to triple the amount of PPE it was able to produce each day to be able to fulfil the orders. The funds were required for new machinery, materials, and staff. We were able to get the client an offer in place and funded within 7 days of them reaching out to us. This quick turnaround enabled them to get everything they needed in place to take on the new contract.
They now have a facility in place which makes winning new business easy as they have a funding line they can use as little or as much of at any time.
Client testimonials
“I use Clear Idea for all my business finance needs. They are experts in their field and a pleasure to work with.”
– Mike G, Company Director, Ipswich
CBILS
Case study: Film and media
A film & media company based in Oxfordshire was desperately in need of funds as nearly all their scheduled shoots had either been cancelled or postponed until next year due to the pandemic. They had already purchased all the necessary equipment and materials for the sets and their cashflow was suffering as a result. With no income due whatsoever for the next 4 months these were scary times for the business. In just over a week we were able to get them funded with an £80k CBILS facility at just 5% per annum to keep them ticking over, cover equipment costs and see them through until their next scheduled shoots.
Our client was ecstatic that we had got them approved and with nothing to pay for the first 12 months felt at ease that his business will now make it through this uncertain time.
Case study: Coffee shop
We were approached by an established coffee shop business with 4 sites in Cardiff who needed £150,000 to complete ongoing refurbishment to two of their premises which began just before the first lockdown.
Due to the first lockdown, like most hospitality businesses they had suffered cashflow issues. They managed to get a bounce back loan from their main bank, but this was not enough to cover their upcoming refurbishment costs and accrued losses. Their main bank declined their CBILS application, but we managed to get the client a CBILS loan with an alternative provider in 9 days replacing their £50k bounce back loan and giving them £100k to use as working capital.
Case study: Technology wholesale
A digital technology wholesale company based in London required a long-term solution to consolidate their current debts.
In order to help fulfil orders from new clients and pay suppliers they had taken out several high interest, short term loans with huge monthly repayments. The business already had secured loans against all of their assets and had been declined by their bank for a CBILS loan. Their options appeared limited, but we found them a fantastic solution with an alternative CBILS lender from our panel that took out all of their short term funding and replaced it with a cheaper long term solution to ease monthly payments.
Merchant Cash Advance
Case study: Bike shop
A bike shop based in Leicester which had only been trading for 8 months was finding it difficult to obtain funding. Despite a fantastic start to the business and having an online store which enabled them to sell a vast number of bicycles during the first lockdown, they were being held back by their short trading history and lack of security.
Within 24 hours, they were approved by one of the leading MCA companies on the market and had secured £40k in business funding to finish their marketing campaign for Christmas and purchase some extra stock.
Case study: Toy store
After being declined by multiple lenders including their bank a toy shop based in Manchester had all but given up on trying to get the funding they required to purchase stock for Christmas. They had never heard of a merchant cash advance but after we explained the underwriting process is only based on the revenue generated through their card transactions and security is not so much on credit scoring the client was happy for us to approach the MCA lenders on our panel with their case.
In just two days the client was funded with a £30k facility which they will pay back by the MCA provider taking a small percentage from their daily card transactions.
Property Development
Case study: Property developer
A property developer based in Staffordshire approached us after finalising negotiations on purchasing a hotel with planning permission to extend the hotel by adding 14 new apartments to the existing building. The client needed £900k on day 1 to purchase the property with a further £1.5m to develop the new apartments, which he later plans to operate at holiday rentals. After discussing the deal with selected development lenders on our panel that we knew would have an appetite and be able to offer 100% of the development costs on a LTGDV up to 48%, we were able to produce terms to the client the very next day.
After completing valuations, legals and other necessary checks, the client received the funds within 4 weeks and was able to make the purchase and begin constructing the apartments over a 12-month term.
The development loan will be taken out with a longer-term solution, such as a commercial mortgage, once the building works have been finished.
