Rapid Funding: Oakmead Finance's Quick Response to a South East Construction Company's Needs

We were approached by an established and profitable south east based construction company who supply and install lighting and power systems on construction sites. The company was experiencing rapid growth due to the amount of construction projects being undertaken in and around London and the south-east.

Their existing overdraft was sufficient to fund the majority of the growth of the business, however, it was not able to help fund a small number of high-value projects. Because of this, the business was at risk of over-trading.

Despite initial positive indications that a further overdraft increase would be sanctioned, their bank ultimately decided that it would not be. It took 6 weeks to relay this decision, finally introducing them to their bank invoice finance team who proposed removing the overdraft and replacing it with a turnover factoring facility. To do this, they advised a likely competition timeframe of a further 4 weeks.

The company’s financial director was unsure that this was the appropriate funding structure for the business and due to the delay already experienced, they required an immediate solution. He sought advice from their accountant who introduced him to us.

Our head of commercial finance engaged with the key decision-makers within a selection of specialist providers and obtained a decision in principle that day.

The following day we chaired a meeting between the client and the senior managers of the lender. In this meeting, they immediately formally agreed a £350,000 facility against 3 selected projects and the associated uncertified applications. The funds were drawn 48 hours later.

By engaging with us, we were able to quickly identify the appropriate solution to meet our client’s requirements and deliver this in a timeframe that met their needs.

The business obtained the short term funding to finance the selected projects, without being tied into a longer-term working capital facility.

The borrowing was repaid upon the repayment of the debt by the debtor, at which point the client terminated the facility without penalty.

“We were let down significantly by our bank and were facing trying to fund projects we had committed to, without the necessary funds to do so. I can’t praise the commercial team of Oakmead Finance highly enough for the professionalism and speed at which they acted to deliver a facility to meet our exact needs – and all of this within 4 days of meeting with us. We will thoroughly recommend them to any business requiring funding.