Advice from RMT Accountants & Business Advisors is helping a family-owned fire safety firm work towards reaching new online markets.
Cherry Parts has been successfully supplying fire protection equipment to trade customers from its North Tyneside base for more than two decades and currently turns over around £1m every year.
But it is now looking to expand its customer base by setting up www.mysafetyshop.co.uk, a new webstore which will sell a comprehensive range of health and safety-related products to both businesses and the general public, such as defibrillators and evacuation chairs, as well as a new line of a new line of own brand premium first aid kits.
As a longstanding client of RMT Accountants, the Cherry Parts management team was introduced to regional fund management firm NEL Fund Managers by RMT’s corporate finance manager Julie Cuthbertson when it was looking at the different options available for securing the capital required to launch the new webstore. They then worked with NEL to secure a £75,000 investment from the North East Small Loan Fund Supported by The European Regional Development Fund via the Recovery Loan Scheme, which will support the development and marketing of the new webstore and the recruitment of the personnel required to manage the new service.
A number of new jobs are expected to be created as the online business develops, while the management team is hoping that its turnover will quickly reach the same level as its existing operations.
Janet Maxted, managing director at Cherry Parts, says: “The business has been trading successfully since 1999, but the increasing recognition of the importance of and need for safety equipment across all workplace and domestic situations made us realise how much more we do could with it. “Diversifying the product range opens up a whole new range of opportunities, while putting our own brand onto products for the first time is a landmark development that utilises the strong reputation we’ve built in our core market sector.
“Our success has always been based on good communication, excellent product knowledge and the highest standards of customer service, and we’ll be applying these principles just as much to our new operation.
“We think we can double our current turnover within a fairly short space of time through the new webstore and think we’ll see more new jobs being created here as we grow.
“RMT’s expert advice and guidance has been instrumental in many of the decisions we’ve made around our service developments and future growth strategy, while NEL’s interest in us as people, as well as in our business performance, made the investment option they presented the right one for us to choose.”
Julie Cuthbertson, who supported the Cherry Parts management team through the investment application, adds: “Janet and the team are building on an enviable reputation within their core area of expertise and now have every opportunity to take their business to the next level. “It’s been great to work with the team on the development and execution of their exciting plans for their new venture and to have helped them bring in the growth capital they need to put them into action.”
RMT provides the full range of financial and business advisory services through its corporate finance, accountancy, specialist tax, medical & healthcare, and recovery & insolvency teams, and works with firms of all sizes both within and outside the North East.
