One of the region’s largest garden centres has secured a £2m loan after to protect it from the "huge impact" of the coronavirus lockdown.
Bents Garden and Home in Greater Manchester opted to apply for the funding from Barclays for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, and said the finance will ensure the business can get through a "difficult time for the industry" – which is seasonal and relies on spring and summer sales for a large proportion of its annual revenue.
The centre, founded near Leigh in the 1930s, employs over 500 people and while its food store and online trading remains open for business, all other on-site retail trading has been closed due to the pandemic.
Like most garden centres, peak spring season is a critically important trading period - and the lockdown looked set to have "dire consequences" for the business’s income streams.
Brian Daniels, finance director of Bents Garden and Home, said: “Gardening is naturally very seasonal so what we earn in the spring and summer gets us through to the Christmas trading period. For the first half of March, we were very busy but then everything stopped with the announcement of the lockdown.
“Whilst we have managed to maintain limited trading through our food store and online, the lockdown was going to have a huge impact on our business, so we asked Barclays for support.
"I can’t speak too highly of the expeditious way in which Barclays processed our business interruption loan application. We submitted an application and the money was in our account just a few days later. The loan gives us certainty on our immediate cash flow requirements and ensures that we will be here for our customers after the lockdown finishes.”
Giles Barton, Barclays Relationship Director, explained: “Coronavirus hit Bents just as they was entering their busiest trading period. I have worked with the family for many years, and we spent time looking at their financial forecasts and put together an application that would get them through this tough period.
"For any business, there’s a lot of moving parts, so we helped them see the wood from the trees and now they have the financial headroom to get through this disruptive period and be ready to reopen fully when the time comes.”
