Marlin Corporate Finance is showing firms the way out of lockdown.
Most of you reading this will be in business in some shape or form and it’s probably a reasonable guess to suggest that many of you are far from being back to normal. Okay, you might be trading again but for a lot of firms the business landscape now looks very different indeed. For some, the landscape will be unrecognisable. “A lot firms have taken a severe hit over the last year and there have been numerous casualties,” said Paul Griffiths, the MD of Teesside based Marlin Corporate Finance.
“For those companies which relied on footfall, their trade dried-up overnight. It’s also a reasonable assumption that we’re not out of the woods just yet and many companies will find the remainder of 2021 extremely challenging. However, help is available. We’ve already helped dozens of companies gain funding via the government’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). We will have raised well over £25million. That scheme has now ended but another one, the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) will run until the end of this year.”
And this is where Marlin Corporate Finance can help. Have you ever applied to a bank or finance house for a business loan? If you have you’ll know what a minefield it is and how much paperwork is required. You can spend weeks pulling together all of the information that’s baeen requested….time that you should really be spending on running your business. And of course, when requesting a loan it’s often because you need some short term help to get over a sticky patch and invariably you would like the funding as quickly as possible. Well good luck. And imagine how frustrating it will be if, after all of that time and effort, they say no. “It happens all of the time. Some banks can take months to get back to their client,” adds Paul, “That’s why we’re launching a consultation service here at Marlin because it will speedup the whole process. We work with clients on an ongoing basis and give them a regular update on how their business is shaping-up and whether they need to take some action. It’s a bit like having a document which is always live…always up to date…always relevant. It’s a running commentary that helps with a company’s business planning strategy. The RLS is particularly handy for those firms who are coming out of the Coronavirus and are looking to either stabilise or invest and expand. We do all of the legwork to gather the information and then have everything ready for when the client would like us to apply for funding. We hit the ground running. We are totally independent and unbiased and only answer to our clients which means we have total freedom to offer advice on lending and banking facilities. We have access to over 200 lenders and we never stop doing research and comparing what’s available in the finance markets. It means we can ensure that the client always gets the best available terms.” It’s also fair to ask that when it comes to applying for loans and accessing government grants, how many of you reading this can honestly say that you know precisely what you’re doing? Are you really aware of what’s available and when? Do you have the time and resources to get things sorted? Don’t panic. Marlin Corporate Finance and have been…done it. And let’s face it, when it comes to finance, you can’t beat experience. Paul spent 12 years as a major player for Barclays in the North East. He’s now been running Marlin Corporate Finance for eight years. The rest of his team has got the sort of background that other finance companies can only dream about. Darren Hakami, who joined Marlin in September, is ex RBS. Gary Lumby had senior roles with Barclays and Yorkshire Bank. Chris Marshall was previously with Santander, Barclays and Elavon. Stewart Williamson is a highly respected lawyer and David Griffiths is an up and coming financial wizard.
Marlin is also growing…fast. Paul expects turnover at Marlin to double over the next 12 months. He’ll also be increasing the size of his team. So, if you’re looking for funding or any sort of business financial advice, the best idea is to get in touch with Paul and the Marlin Corporate Finance guys. They’ll explain how they do things different…and how they get results.
