Money
Ups and downs
26
Despite the constraints of Covid-19, many businesses in the South-East reported increased confidence during June, according to a national bank’s tracking figures. However, the trend is still way down on previous years. Lloyds’ commercial banking “business barometer” reading taken at the beginning of July showed that overall confidence for firms in the region rose 14 points to -31%, compared with May. More than half (52%) of companies said they expected to be operating at more than 50% of capacity by the end of June. On the downside, a quarter said they did not expect to see any improvement within three months, 8% said it would take more than a year and 9% said they did not expect to survive the crisis. Regional director for the South East at Lloyds Bank commercial banking, Phil Kirk, said: “While still in the red, confidence across the South East has improved by some way since last month. It’s also encouraging to see that the majority of the region’s firms are operating at above half of capacity. Despite many sectors opening back up, there’s still a long road ahead to recovery. We’ll be by the side of South East firms as they plan for the future.”
Cheers for
the help
A business that relies on the hard-hit hospitality sector has been given a loan from a national bank to help it through the crisis. Pulborough-based Hepworth Brewery received an overdraft extension and a £500,000 Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme loan from HSBC UK. The funding will enable the company to protect 30 local jobs and adapt its business model to deliver its beer directly to customers. Hepworth Brewery was established more than 20 years ago and creates award-winning craft beer, supplying national retailers like M&S and Co-op. In late March, the company lost 75% of its business operations overnight due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as suppliers and the hospitality sector was shut down by the government. The six-figure loan will help the brewery to cover business costs and lost income streams. It will also support the business’s move to sell beer online to local customers in the West Sussex area – a vital income stream allowing the brewery to continue generating orders.
› Andy Hepworth MD and head brewer Andy Hepworth said: “With the hospitality sector having largely been at a standstill, a lot of our regular clients are no longer trading, which has had a huge impact on our earnings and growth.” He said the loan would support the brewery for the next six months and had given him confidence that the business would recover. Area director for Sussex and Surrey at HSBC UK, Andrew Steer, said: “We were pleased to be able to support the business, despite these unprecedented times, and look forward to seeing the business not only recover from this difficult period, but continue to grow.”
A fruit-filled deal A fifth generation farming business in the Garden of England is preparing for the next chapter in its long history, after buying out a competitor. Bardsley England, based at Boughton Monchelsea in Kent, has been going for 128 years and has built a reputation as one of the UK’s leading fruit farmers, producing about 10,000 tonnes of fruit. Its acquisition of Newmafruit increases this volume to 23,000 tonnes. MD Ben Bardsley said: “Newmafruit is an excellent addition to the Bardsley England group and this is a great opportunity for the business. It will enable us to increase our offering of top and stone fruit to the UK market and therefore
enhance the strategic partnerships and alliances we have already forged.” Bardsley’s were able to acquire the competitor company using a funding package arranged by Shawbrook Bank, whose director Steven Munt said: “Due to the current circumstances caused by the emergence and spread of coronavirus, this was a challenging transaction, with several moving parts involving asset transfers, lease assignments and freehold property to be valued and charged. However, these types of projects are exactly what we thrive on.” The introduction of Shawbrook to Bardsley’s was instigated by Castle Corporate Finance.
August/September 2020 | www.southeastbusiness.com
