Accelerating a bike dealership’s growth with a bridging loan – exclusive case study

Bridging Finance Solutions managing director Steve Barber reveals how the lender was able to help a start-up business get on the fast lane to success.

The challenge

This was one of our most unusual deals to date, providing a short-term loan to a garage forecourt owner looking to acquire a number of imported motorbikes.

The private client was keen to expand his business and offer more motorbikes for sale, but needed a cash injection to facilitate this.

The business had only 12 months trading history and was unable to secure a stocking facility or overdraft with its own bank until two years’ accounts were available

Many high street lenders simply do not have the appetite to lend to smaller businesses or provide overdrafts which would ultimately provide an essential facility that will enable that business to grow.

The deal

The solution

BFS was able to provide £100,000 using the business owner’s property as a guarantee, securing funds within two weeks.

With a plan to pay the loan back within six months once the motorbikes were sold, the loan effectively remained in place, providing a revolving credit facility which enabled the business to continue to grow, increasing sales and profitability.

The client continued to use the bridge for eight months, purchasing and re-selling stock, building his business up until he no longer needed the bridge and had a financially sound and stable infrastructure in place.

Bridging is an incredibly flexible finance product and this recent deal reflects this.

This very savvy client needed cash quickly in order to move his business forward and understood that a bridge could essentially unlock his issues and provide him with the funds needed to make the necessary changes.

We see this as a niche area for us and more business owners are recognising this gap that bridging finance can fill.