Direct merchants active in three different product sectors have
secured business loans to fund future growth.
In June, Exeter-based toys and homewares retailer Toys and
Interiors received a “five-figure” funding package
from Lloyds TSB Commercial. The five-year-old business, set up by
husband and wife Steve and Lisa Thomas, sells children’s toys and
homewares via Toysandinteriors.co.uk. Following the investment,
it launched two new sites, Redtoybox.co.uk and
Polkadotcottage.co.uk, in order to better target each product
sector. To ensure improved efficiencies, the company also
invested in a new stock management system. As a result of the
expansion, the business is now targeting turnover of
£800,000, an increase of 23 percent on 2010’s figure of
£650,000.
Also receiving bank funding is Cornwall-based apparel retailer
Seasalt. Founded in 1981 as a retail outlet in Penzance selling
government surplus clothing, Seasalt has evolved into a business
with more than 200 staff, 12 shops, 300 stockists and an online
business. In June, the company invested in a £1 million
purpose-built warehousing facility, funded by Clydesdale Bank.
The new 25,000 sq ft building replaces six smaller units and
creates 20 new jobs.
Chesterfield-based gardening supplies cataloguer Two Wests &
Elliott secured a £50,000 loan from UK Steel Enterprise in
July to help grow the business. The funds have allowed
owner-manager Peter Bennett to buy out a minority shareholder in
the business, who had been in place since Bennett purchased the
business from Bradshaws in 2007.
The funds were provided by Tata Steel, which provides loan and
equity finance to traditional steel-making areas as part of its
social responsibility policies. Following the investment, the
company, which employs 12 staff and turns over approximately
£2 million a year, plans to relaunch its website before the
end of the year.
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