Taxi firm funds electric fleet with help of Growth Guarantee Scheme

Customer background

The company was established by our customer after a former business was placed in administration, primarily because of issues caused by the pandemic.

Having worked with Close Brothers Asset Finance in 2021, our customer is confident in building on their strong history of providing exceptional taxi services to their customers in the UK’s capital city.

The Growth Guarantee Scheme

To get their services up and running, our customer needed to refinance the fleet from the previous business, and approached Alan Cardy, Senior Sales Manager in our National Accounts team, for a funding solution.

As a new venture, Alan suggested refinancing the taxis with the support of the Growth Guarantee Scheme.

The Growth Guarantee Scheme is backed by the British Business Bank and is designed to support UK SMEs access to finance as they look to invest and grow. The aim of the Growth Guarantee Scheme is to offer improved terms to the borrower which is what we were able to do in this case.

Solution

After reviewing the customer’s plans, Alan initially offered them a refinance agreement on 35 taxis, followed by a further 18 after two other lenders were unable to provide the necessary funding.

This new agreement was pivotal for the businesses growth because by refinancing the taxis with the backing of the Growth Guarantee Scheme they were able to secure the necessary funding and spread payments across a fixed period. This made budgeting more manageable and resulted in the company owning the assets outright at the end of the agreement term.

Alan Cardy, Senior Sales Manager, commented: “It has been a pleasure to work with our long-standing customer on the formation of their new business. By using the Growth Guarantee Scheme, we have facilitated the funding of their fleet, helping to meet their growing business demands.”

Our customer added: “We are delighted by the recent agreement for refinancing our fleet of taxis. As a taxi operator, it is crucial to have enough vehicles to serve our customers promptly. I found Alan and the team at Close Brothers Asset Finance incredibly helpful, and I wouldn’t hesitate to approach him again if we require finance in the future.”

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