Eight Phone Calls from Brokers That We Love (and Can Help With)

The economy is struggling to restart after lockdown, the bounce back is stalling, and government-backed CBILS are proving tricky to secure. For many companies accessing the cash they need is challenging, and it can be harder than ever to get business finance these days.

We’re dealing with a large number of enquiries and brokers are often surprised at the breadth of situations we can help with. To help brokers contextualise the different products we provide here are eight calls we often receive—and can help with.

#1 “The entrepreneur is great, but this is a new business”

We look at the entrepreneur’s full track record, not just the business they are raising funds for. We understand that this is an important indicator of success, and we’ll look at previous achievements as part of our assessment. We’re not bound to just looking at the last three years of company accounts like some traditional lenders—we like to take a wider view on the entrepreneur’s background to help us make a decision.

#2 “We only have commercial property as security”

This can often be a roadblock with traditional lenders, as commercial property can be trickier to value. But we make that extra effort, and we work with experienced valuation experts to do so—see our conversation with Eddisons, one of the UK’s largest and most respected valuation services firms, here.

#3 “We need the money quickly”

This is one of our key strengths: we pride ourselves on being able to turn around deals quickly. We keep it simple, with a straightforward four-step process and no unnecessary bureaucracy. Our team is efficient and knowledgeable; we can give you a decision fast and get the funds in place quickly. See here for how we completed a £1m deal in just seven days.

#4 “There is some funding is in place, but we need a little bit more”

We often hear this when the client is already quite leveraged and there are multiple charge holders. They might need a restructure, or they may already be using a mixture of traditional loans, overdrafts and invoice factoring. Although many traditional lenders would dismiss the loan outright, we look at each case in detail.

We are not put off by complexity and we are willing to get agreements signed alongside other charge holders; if the collateral is there and we can make the deal work, we are happy to help.

#5 “The asset is awkward to price”

As with commercial property, this doesn’t put us off. We have lots of experience pricing up unconventional assets. For example, we helped one customer with financing to purchase a golf course. The marketplace for golf courses is small, making these properties harder to value, but we did the work, saw the value in the proposition and provided the financing. We’ve since been repaid and the business has re-financed with a large lender.

Other assets we’ve accepted as security include a private school, agricultural land, large IT servers and land (with and without planning permission).

#6 “There are some adverse events on the credit file”

This is something that can get clients automatically disqualified from traditional lenders. Again, we look at the business and the context in more detail. If your client only has one or two CCJs that can be explained, that won’t be deal-breaker for us.

#7 “The bank doesn’t seem to care about the proposition”

We look at the business plan in detail. We are not just ticking boxes but evaluating the proposition, looking at the market conditions and deciding whether there is potential for success. We have a team of experts who do this day in, day out, so we can see the value in business propositions that traditional lenders might dismiss.

#8 “I’m just having trouble placing this one”

If traditional lenders won’t lend but you think your client has a viable business, get in touch. We will look closely at the plan and take the time to understand its value. Our flexible approach allows us to take a broader view of the business and lend where others may not. If you’d like to speak to one of our experts to discuss a loan of between £25,000 and £1m, please get in touch with one of the team at contact@reparofinance.co.uk or on 0161 451 5710.