When John Ewens needed short-term funding to put ATMs in County Stores, his chain of six convenience stores, accountants Randall & Payne put him in touch with Gloucestershire Investors Group (GIG), a small group of local entrepreneurs who look at both equity and/or loan investments to help SME businesses in the current climate. The group was launched last month in Cheltenham and this was their first loan. With the help of Tim Ward at BPE Solicitors in Cheltenham, it took only two weeks to put into place, even though the investor was in the middle of a sailing holiday!

John Ewens, who plans to build his chain of shops from six to 15 in the future, says: “The funds were used to install ATMs in the shops, providing a useful service that both encourages customers in and saves bank cash handling fees, which we reflect in our prices. We wanted a very short term loan, just six months, which the banks won’t do, so it was great when Randall & Payne introduced us to GIG.”

GIG is an informal group of investors whose main contact point is Will Abbott at Randall & Payne in Gloucester. As Will says: “You’ve got the ideas, the desire, and the plan, all you need now is funding. For banks your personal credit history is relevant to your business loan – especially if your business does not have a long operating history. You’ll need to show your business’s financial health; how much it’s worth, how much money you’re moving and projections about what your business will be worth going forward, so you’ll need an updated business plan with as much detail as possible, which is something we regularly help clients to do.

A big part of the bank’s risk is uncertainty regarding loan repayment, so they have rigid rules and processes associated with business financing. Even if the person you’re talking to believes in you, he or she may not be able to help, so you may have to try some alternative sources. This is often the case for Gloucestershire businesses needing capital to expand, particularly in the current climate, which is why we set up GIG. We would be happy to welcome some more investors to the group and once people become aware that the bank is not the only option, we should be able to refer some interesting funding requests to them. This was the first loan for GIG, so there was a bit of a learning curve, but everybody worked well together for an excellent result.”

Call Will Abbott at Randall & Payne on 01453 723377 for further information.