Friday 21st Dec 2018
A Christmas full of goodness, as Hitachi Capital Business Finance celebrates first anniversary of EFG deals
Hitachi Capital Business Finance is celebrating a successful year as an approved lender for the Governments’ Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme (EFG). During that time, it has facilitated over 47 live agreements, totaling £6.3milion, with the average deal size in excess of £135,000.
Launched in 2009, The Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme is managed by The British Business Bank, but is delegated in full to lenders such as Hitachi Capital Business Finance. The scheme is designed to support UK small businesses and aid business growth. Companies such as Hitachi Capital provide lending solutions to enable businesses to fulfil their growth ambitions by accessing competitive funding that might ordinarily not be available in the asset finance market. Hitachi Capital was the first approved lender to gain the asset finance accreditation variant in late 2017.
Through the scheme, Hitachi Capital has welcomed the opportunity to work with a diverse range of businesses such as Goodness Baked, a family –owned and operated wholesale bakers in North West England. Goodness Baked required funding to purchase specialist-catering equipment to grow and secure a prosperous future. As a new-start business, Hitachi Capital worked closely with broker introducer Academy Leasing Ltd along with catering equipment supplier Mono Equipment Ltd to find a tailored financial solution to enable the business to buy new equipment and deliver future orders. Given the age and nature of the business, finding a funding solution would have been difficult, but Hitachi Capital were able to access the EFG guarantee to make up the asset shortfall, enabling the business to purchase the much needed catering equipment.
Gavin Wraith-Carter, Managing Director at Hitachi Capital Business Finance commentated:
‘‘Every business is unique, and the ‘one size fits all’ approach simply doesn’t work for the majority of small businesses. We recognise and appreciate that some businesses need access to alternative types of finance that don’t fit the traditional mould. It also reinforces our commitment to understanding the specific needs of business, offering tailored financial solutions that fit their business needs rather than the bank’s financial requirements. We have had a very successful first year, and are proud to have been able to help so many small businesses such as Goodness Baked to realise their ambitions. Christmas is such a busy time of year, and we were pleased that we could play a part in helping them fulfil their Christmas pudding orders in time for the big day.”
Ian Stansfield, owner and Baker at Goodness Baked commented:
“We were so delighted to secure the additional funding we needed to fulfil our dreams and create and deliver something special in the baking industry. Thanks to Hitachi Capital Business Finance and the Enterprise Finance Scheme, we have been able to reinvigorate our passion for baking and want to thank our strong team who were willing to put their lives on hold to support the business. With a strong pipeline of orders from companies such as Lidl, BMW/Mini and Waitrose, and a focus on putting
our customers at the heart of our business, we are so excited about the future and the possibility it holds for us all.”