A family-run construction firm has secured a £150,000 funding boost to help it bounce back from the pandemic.
Newcastle-under-Lyme-based Trades and Labourers secured the loan via the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) to kickstart growth plans after scaling back its operations during the first lockdown.
The cash-boost has helped to safeguard four roles at the company and is expected to support the creation of 10 new jobs in the coming years.
Managing director Lynn Sanders – whose husband and three sons are also involved in the business – said: “With new funding in place, the company intends to continue fulfilling existing contracts that were previously on hold, whilst also having the working capital required to secure new contracts in the coming months.
“After an incredibly challenging 2020, whereby our company had to put a number of contracts on hold due to the coronavirus and temporarily furlough staff – retaining a small number for emergency work required by our clients – we are delighted to be firmly looking to the future now by completing existing client contracts and looking to expand the business.”
Trades and Labourers specialises in maintaining and repairing buildings for a range of public and private sector clients, completing residential and commercial construction work and groundworks.
The firm approached alternative lender BCRS Business Loans, which was established almost 20 years ago to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the West Midlands that are unable access finance from traditional lenders, such as banks.
Andrew Hustwit, business development manager for Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent at BCRS Business Loans, said: “We are delighted to have provided the funding that Trades and Labourers required to recover from the interruption inflicted by coronavirus and work towards growth in the coming months. As a lender of social and economic impact, we are also delighted that 10 jobs will be created thanks to this loan.”
Click here to sign up to the daily BusinessLive email
The loan was facilitated by the Community Investment Enterprise Facility (CIEF), which is delivered on a local level by BCRS Business Loans and managed by Social Investment Scotland.
Alastair Davis, chief executive at Social Investment Scotland, added: “The Community Investment Enterprise Facility aims to provide investments to SMEs in communities across the country, to bolster their local social and economic impact.
"We are delighted that Trades and Labourers have secured this loan from BCRS and wish them every success as they rebuild their business following the challenges related to the pandemic.”
