The Challenge
Laila’s Fine Foods is a long-standing manufacturer of hand prepared ready meals based around small batch production. The business has seen strong growth over the years but recently were not getting the financial support that they needed to progress from their existing bankers. Due to the unprecedented outbreak of COVID-19, the business was rapidly trying to ramp up production in order to serve a spike in demand for their products. But this required the funds to cope with the heightened production levels. Callum Bull, Head of Structured Finance at PMD Business Finance, commented:
“Laila’s Fine Foods has invested heavily over the years to ensure they remain at the forefront of the sector and have the ability to meet the high demands of their client base. However, this also meant that the company had a large amount of equity tied up in a wide range of unencumbered equipment.”
The Solution
Callum introduced Mark Millhouse, Head of Invoice Finance at PMD Business Finance, who assessed their existing facility and identified a more appropriate alternative; to switch their Invoice Finance providers, saving costs and increasing facility size. Mark Millhouse commented:
‘The Invoice Finance Facility Laila’s Fine Foods had in place was restrictive in the amount of funds it generated and had far too onerous levels of administration as a condition. PMD Business Finance quickly identified a lender with sector experience and an old-fashioned approach to underwriting, putting the people at the heart of the facility.
“Despite the COVID-19 crisis, a survey was able to be done remotely and e-documents signed resulting in no additional time lost. The deal completed within two weeks from first meeting and Laila’s Fine Foods now has the required headroom in the facility to allow them to grow.”
The Results
Whilst times have been difficult for Laila’s Fine Foods, they have come out the other side positive, eager to see the company grow. Zera Dawson-Gerrard, Technical & Commercial Director at Laila’s Fine Foods, said:
“We are delighted with the support we received from PMD Business Finance. We have had a number of challenges over the past 18 months, with Brexit and now COVID-19, both Callum and Mark worked tirelessly to fully understand our business and secure the financing that we needed to support our growth ambitions. We are able to remain close to our customers during these uncertain times and are able to keep up the quality of service that we are used to delivering.”