Genie Lending’s blog provides helpful information and advice about business loans and alternative finance methods. Learn more today.

Purchase of a commercial property

/in , /by

Our client has been operating a successful customer retail and service business from rented accommodation for the last 15 years, in a village location in the Midlands. 

Like most business owners the COVID pandemic forced the clients to act quickly with commercial decisions to adapt their business so they could continue to thrive. It therefore made complete business sense to stop renting, and purchase premises to trade from, to further strengthen the business.

When the opportunity arose to purchase the property next door, which has been vacant for around 5 years, the client spoke to Genie Lending straight away. Knowledge of the area, with a current client base and proven track record stood to strengthen the proposition. Furthermore, the property itself is a large space with an unused takeaway and restaurant on the ground floor and a huge 8 bedroom flat above.

Our client could see beyond the repairs that were required and the possible potential in the property. They approached it with a clear commercial plan, keeping their business goals in mind, whilst also seeing the opportunity for portfolio expansion. Through splitting the ground floor commercial space into a takeaway (to let out), and retail unit to move their existing business into (subject to local authority consents). They would then look to gain planning to convert the 8 bedroom flat, into four 2 bedroom flats which can be let to generate further income.

To attain the finance, our Genie Lending dedicated Case Manager worked closely with the client over the many complexities to attain the required funding. Our experienced Case Manager guided the client through the hurdles that they would face for example, with no planning in place to split the commercial element, or to convert the flats, a long term commercial mortgage is not possible. Secondly, development lenders will not lend if planning is not in place, and should they try and obtain planning before purchasing they run the risk of the vendor increasing the purchase price! Also counter to their application, was the poor condition of the property. Main stream bridging lenders were concerned that this could lead to unforeseen expense, that would be detrimental to the loan repayments.

Genie Lending were able to overcome all of this, and accomplish a bridging facility with a flexible independent lender, who could also see the potential in the property. Having visited the property personally, and obtained specialist reports, the lender was able to provide a funding facility to support the purchase, and moreover, when planning is in place will assist with the development finance.

Once fully developed the client will be able to refinance the whole building on to a long term mortgage. In doing this, our client will have an increased income from the takeaway and the accommodation rental of the flats, thus meaning that they will no longer have to pay rent on their own retail business!

If your business has found funding difficult to obtain you can trust Genie Lending to go to every extent to provide the correct finance quickly, for the result you want. As well as the household names in the industry we have access to proven lending sources who you will not find on the high street. Our aim is to help UK SME’s obtain funding for all their business requirements, whether that be growth, acquiring premises, paying HMRC liabilities or simply working capital. Genie Lending can assist with complete finance solutions.

Success in obtaining a new business start up loan in the current climate.

/in , /by

During the current lockdown a client in the North East approached Genie Lending for help in purchasing a retail franchise. The business was for both online and shop based sales of specialist herbal products.

Whilst formal long term lending was unavailable for the client, due to this being a new start business, Genie Lending was able to secure a second charge bridging loan for the client to be able to move forward with his business venture.  This bridging facility has all interestpayments retained, so that, as the business starts, the client will not have the worry of having to make monthly payments. Once the business has established trading period, Genie will refinance the bridging loan, with a long term facility. The lender agreed to a desk top valuation to ensure the social distancing rules were adhered to.

Despite the current lock down, the case manager was also able to liaise with the lender and solicitors, in order to find a way through the traditional requirements for visiting solicitors, for both signing and witnessing documents, and receiving independent advice. With forward thinking, the lender accepted the novel idea of skype and, facetime being used for the advice process and, to and for signatures to be witnessed. Undertakings were given to forward original documentation post Covid 19 lockdown.

This shows how professionals can come together and sensibly overcome adversity at such difficult times. Lenders are still open for business and finding ways to keep supporting the business community.

If your business has found funding difficult to obtain you can trust Genie Lending to go to every extent to provide the correct finance quickly, for the result you want. As well as the household names in the industry we have access to proven lending sources who you will not find on the high street. Our aim is to help UK SME’s obtain funding for all their business requirements, whether that be growth, acquiring premises, paying HMRC liabilities or simply working capital. Genie Lending can assist with complete finance solutions.

Convenience store owner develops business portfolio to become a landlord.

/in , /by

A convenience store manager who had owned and successfully traded from the same premises for 10 years in Cheshire had recently grown to require new premises.

The ambitious client, had been steadily growing the business and consistently repaying the existing commercial mortgage facility with their high street lender. However, having now outgrown the building, they were required to move to a new location. This presented an opportunity to rent out the existing premises, an idea that had been in the planning for some time and would give them the ability to diversify their portfolio for income stability. They would split the current building into three separate units to let out, generating additional income.

From what seemed like a relatively straight forward plan there were some hurdles to overcome. This became clear when they approached the high street banks for funding. Having no previous commercial landlord experience being one, the change in structure and no tenants in place at the time. These factors seen as prohibitive by the high street banks forced the client to refinance and seek funding elsewhere.

When the client approached Genie Lending the Case Manager spent time understanding the client’s requirements, and various complexities within the case. He looked at these carefully with the client and their solicitor helping them to draw upon relevant information to present in order to obtain their funding.

Among the plus points were that the new premises were in the local vicinity of the existing, therefore this meant the client could keep a good handle on the three tenants.

A solution was found and an agreement in principle obtained from a competitive lender providing appropriate long term funding. The client was happy with the terms provided and proceeded accordingly.

This concluded with an acceptable formal offer being provided and legal representatives instructed within 12 working days of submitting the application.

If your business has found funding difficult to obtain you can trust Genie Lending to go to every extent to provide the correct finance quickly, for the result you want. As well as the household names in the industry we have access to proven lending sources who you will not find on the high street. Our aim is to help UK SME’s obtain funding for all their business requirements, whether that be growth, acquiring premises, paying HMRC liabilities or simply working capital. Genie Lending can assist with complete finance solutions.

Funding for the purchase of a coffee shop in Worthing, Sussex.

/in , /by

Our Client has been managing a seaside café for several years and was given the opportunity to purchase the café from the owner. The fit was perfect, and there could be no question regarding the viability of the business model given it’s current trading figures. Buying this independent cafe was simply an easy choice which would enable the current managers to become proprietors of the cafe, truly owning their dream.

Seizing the opportunity, the client agreed to the purchase with another family member, setting up a new Ltd Company for the purpose. The client approached his own bank and other high street banks to borrow the funds however, they were turned away as these lenders took the view that he did not have enough experience and it was viewed as a “new start business”.

The team at Genie Lending could see the possibility in this established business and went about helping this client to source the right funding. Genie were successful in securing funding for the purchase of the business where others had been unable despite it being considered a start up.

The client was enormously grateful when terms were agreed and funds were paid out to the client within 4 weeks. A fantastic early Christmas present for our clients, which will see this cafe continue to operate with the passionate and care that goes into this business. Also a win for the local community and tourists alike.

Genie Lending have a wealth of experience in helping new start and young business raise funds based on both short term trading figures and projection led lending.

If your business has found funding difficult to obtain you can trust Genie Lending to go to every extent to provide the correct finance quickly, for the result you want. As well as the household names in the industry we have access to proven lending sources who you will not find on the high street. Our aim is to help UK SME’s obtain funding for all their business requirements, whether that be growth, acquiring premises, paying HMRC liabilities or simply working capital. Genie Lending can assist with complete finance solutions.

Development funding for overlapping project

/in , /by

An experienced property developer in South Yorkshire, who is a long-standing Genie Lending client, approached with a potential new development project, however, as their current project had not yet completed, funds were tight.

The client had been offered the opportunity to buy land with planning at below market value, however, they did not have enough funds to put down the normal expected deposit to purchase the land. This was because all their funds were tied up in the clients’ current project, awaiting sale of properties to go through.

Genie Lending understood the intricacies and were able to show in their application that there was adequate equity within the value of the property, compared with the purchase price. From packaging the information thoroughly and carefully we were able to obtain 100% of the purchase price on a 6 month bridging facility, without the client being required to provide any additional security. This was achieved by showing that the clients have the ability to repay the bridging loan from either the sale of the properties within their current project, or from a traditional development finance facility which we have agreed in principle for the client.

The development finance facility will enable the client to be able to repay the initial bridging loan and provide 100% of the build costs in stage payments, rolling up all interest until the sale of the properties.

If your business has found funding difficult to obtain you can trust Genie Lending to go to every extent to provide the correct finance quickly, for the result you want. As well as the household names in the industry we have access to proven lending sources who you will not find on the high street. Our aim is to help UK SME’s obtain funding for all their business requirements, whether that be growth, acquiring premises, paying HMRC liabilities or simply working capital. Genie Lending can assist with complete finance solutions.

Urgent assistance to redeem an outstanding debt

/in , /by

A client who Genie Lending had previously assisted with a commercial property loan two years ago, approached us for urgent assistance with one of her trading businesses.

Since we had last spoken, she had acquired (18 months previously) a wholesale butchery business and now sought our assistance as their working capital provider. A subsidiary of a clearing bank, had withdrawn from the market giving the client only 30 days to redeem the outstanding debt and structure a replacement working capital facility amounting to £40K.

There were challenges attached, not least of which the fact that, due to a temporary cashflow glitch in July, the direct debit for that facility had been returned unpaid and, whilst the last filed accounts were available, the company does not produce management accounts.

A strong case was, however, made to trusted lenders and Genie was able to deliver a revolving credit facility of £15K together with a 36 month loan both at a keen rate of interest with no security beyond the director’s personal guarantee.

The company could, therefore, redeem the existing debt and benefit from a facility as flexible as the previous one without the reporting requirements that the clearing bank funder needed. The added advantage of the debenture security, previously required to support the director’s personal guarantee, being released just added to the upsides.

Whilst Genie Lending provide business finance, we also endeavour to go beyond our remit and obtain the best possible outcome to benefit our clients. In this case, we not only obtained competitive funding, we also improved their financial situation!

If your business has found funding difficult to obtain you can trust Genie Lending to go to every extent to provide the correct finance quickly, for the result you want. As well as the household names in the industry we have access to proven lending sources who you will not find on the high street. Our aim is to help UK SME’s obtain funding for all their business requirements, whether that be growth, acquiring premises, paying HMRC liabilities or simply working capital. Genie Lending can assist with complete finance solutions.

Flexible funds for business expansion

/in , /by

As any business knows winning a new contact is a superb feeling especially in this tough uncertain financial climate. Clients moving with sustainable customer demands is at the heart of today’s  survival. In order to do this, commercial funding may be able to provide a flexible way to meet those demands while a business gets up and running with new systems or assets.

In this case our client, a building contractor based in Dorset recently expanded their current business to offer a full design, planning and build service for clients. Due to the success of this expansion, the company needed additional funds for cash flow however wanted much more flexibility than a traditional cash flow loan.

Genie Lending were able to put together an unsecured revolving credit facility of £25,000 that can be drawn down and paid back at anytime during the life of the facility. Interest is charged daily and only on any outstanding balance so there is no long-term commitment and you only pay for what you borrow.

The facility took just 4 days to put in place with funds available to the client.

Facilities are available between £10k and £2m however additional security may be required.

If your business has found funding difficult to obtain you can trust Genie Lending to go to every extent to provide the correct finance quickly, for the result you want. As well as the household names in the industry we have access to proven lending sources who you will not find on the high street. Our aim is to help UK SME’s obtain funding for all their business requirements, whether that be growth, acquiring premises, paying HMRC liabilities or simply working capital. Genie Lending can assist with complete finance solutions.

The value in customer retention and repeat business for SME’s

/in /by

The customer is fundamental to the survival of any business. The Office of National Statistics show that in order to be deemed a success, usually marked by the profit, a business has to have survived beyond 5 years. Therefore building an ongoing relationship with your customers matters. With our business being Commercial  Finance, we help many start ups and established expanding businesses. Regardless of longevity, or whether that business is in the product or service industry there is one common denominator that ascertains that success – the customer.

The saying, “the customer knows best”, is something of previous decades and only stands to halt business growth. The customer that makes a business today is one that understands fair practice and equality of the transaction. Those are the relationships worth striving to keep. With our many finance offerings we find that a customer who comes to us for a business loan on one occasion may later return for alternative finance, if we provide good service and build a relationship.

Here are some suggestions that work for Genie Lending as a finance broker, that may help your business in the quest for repeat business.

1. Take the time to outline to clients upfront what the terms are and what they can expect. Allow them time to reflect on these and come back within a given time frame. This elevates any misconceptions or annoyance by chasing.

2. Offer alternatives. Never be afraid to give the customer choice. This is primarily what sets the SME’s apart from the larger companies. We often get contacted by clients wanting a business loan but by taking the time to properly understand their needs and matching these to the criteria of the loan, we can suggest alternatives that may be more flexible, cheaper or a shorter term loan. Good customer service is always about listening and understanding the detail. If an alternative is not available, respect can be earned by being honest. The customer is more likely to come back to you if they cannot find the alternative elsewhere.

3. Keep a good dialogue with one point of contact or consistency across the customer experience. At Genie Lending we provide our clients with a Dedicated Case Manager to see your enquiry through to completion. Each case is important to us and this way we ensure that you get the best match for your case and we give the best possible service.

4. Whatever the outcome, ie purchase or not, finish the last point of contact on a high thanking the customer and maintain the “see you soon” outlook. A lot of companies, especially the larger more established ones tend to communicate solely via email to keep in contact with their customer base. In today’s society a personal call, in the service industry sector or a personalised giveaway in the product industry (be it samples or a money off voucher) every now and again goes a long way towards keeping your company on a customers radar. Consider this in your planning for quieter times of the year, if your business is seasonal, give yourself plenty of time in the planning to account for time to do this therefore not interrupting the buying pattern of your customer base and inadvertently giving them a discount when they would have bought regardless.

5. Listen to the feedback, good or bad it can provide powerful insight towards getting the right sustainable model for your business.

Keeping these useful pointers in mind should enable you to build a good relationship with your customers in the SME marketplace. We value our growing repeat client base, and the success of our clients translates into the success of our business. Genie Lending wish you the best with your repeat customer experience.

Footnote:
If your business requires funding you can trust Genie Lending to go to every extent to provide the correct finance quickly, for the result you want. As well as the household names in the industry we have access to proven lending sources who you will not find on the high street. Our aim is to help UK SME’s obtain funding for all their business requirements, whether that be growth, acquiring premises, paying HMRC liabilities or simply working capital. Genie Lending can assist with complete finance solutions.

What is Fusion Retailing and Should You Try it?

/in /by

Transforming a business into a one-stop provider makes good business sense. Modern consumer behaviour and expectation of instant gratification means consumers demand convenience in everything they do.

With the rise and adaption of mobile communication and browsing technology, consumer habits have also changed. Increasing numbers of people ‘shop on the go’ – they don’t want to go to different stores and shops to get what they need if they can see what is available on a little screen.

Read more →

How Will Brexit Affect UK Trade Deals?

/in /by

Brexit has been the hot topics in the UK for over two years. UK businesses have already made preparations for potential lower rates of trade due to leaving the European Union.

But will all go downhill from here? Trade deals are integral in sustaining industries from raw material manufacturers to suppliers, but how will Brexit dictate the economic balance of the UK-EU partnership?

Currency at stake?

The pound was overvalued before the Brexit vote, which is why so many speculators and those in the know made a fortune betting against the pound.

Typically, the value of a currency is in part affected by the consensus of its economic current and future standing. Some experts had, before the leave vote, analysed the post-Brexit landscape and subsequently made the prediction that it will preempt a ‘slowing down’ of the economy.

However, these are probably the same ‘experts’ who predicted half a million job losses, an emergency budget and an extra £3,500 a year cost to every household in the UK should we vote to leave the EU.

Customs and trade?

Once the UK leaves the EU, it has to leave the customs union and take back control of the national economy once and for all. In practice, this could mean little difference to how things operate now. German carmakers, French wine producers and service companies which own significant stakes in our infrastructure will not stop trading with us overnight. It is not in their interests to block trade, neither is it our interest to reciprocate.

Countries such as Canada, the United States – in fact, any country which is not in or going to apply for membership of the EU trades freely with the EU. Why should the case be any different for the UK post-Brexit leave date?

What does the future hold in store?

Although Brexit will mean the UK is formally leaving the EU, under article 50 of the Lisbon treaty, the UK is still allowed to renegotiate a new trade relationship with the EU within a minimum of two years.

It is in the interests of the governments of the countries of the EU that a new trade deal is developed. However, the current mindset of some business owners, trade associations and, sadly, many of our elected representatives and unelected peers is one of defeatism and failure.

To sum it up, the future of trade between the UK and the rest of Europe will carry on with little effect. If there is any slight downside, that will be more than compensated by our new freedom to trade freely with other nations without the shackles of a protectionist treaty holding us back.

Business opportunities will be thriving in specific areas after Brexit has happened. We will undoubtedly be pleased to speak with you regarding any commercial finance enquiry. So contact us today with your requirement.