Mergers and Acquisitions specialist, Mike Harris, began his own business journey with the purchase of established chartered accountancy firm Chegwidden & Co in 2009. That was financed by a bank loan, which took a frustrating four months to materialise, so next time around he resolved to try something different and approached rebuildingsociety.com for a loan to fund payments to the former owners of his current takeover project.
After buying out the owners at Chegwidden & Co, Mike set about successfully maintaining the existing client base and growing the business. It’s a trick he is looking to repeat with his latest acquisition of Goatcher Chandler Ltd; although this time he didn’t have to wait four months for a loan, as rebuildingsociety.com’s lenders were able to offer the required £110,000 in less than a fortnight. One of Mike’s friends joined in the lending too, helping him get his funding at an agreeable rate.
The plan is to expand his network of offices and open a central London branch in 2014/15. Mike knows where he will look first for his funding:
“I’ve been able to meet my commitments towards the previous owners because of the speed and rate of this loan. The process was started on the 6th of August 2013 and I was offered a loan on the 15th, although I kept the auction open to allow for competitive bidding and for the rate to fall.
“The completion process was straight forward and I would recommend the experience to anyone in a similar position. As someone with a great deal of experience in traditional funding, I can see the world shifting.
“The banks simply couldn’t accommodate my needs in the same way rebuildingsociety.com was able to do so quickly, so you wonder how long big banks will dominate the SME loans market”, said Mike.
Nick Moules, of rebuildingsociety.com added: “We were delighted to be able to help Mike out, but the success of his funding was down to the strong case he made through the company’s track record and his willingness to respond quickly and in detail to lenders’ questions during the auction process. He was able to get his personality across, giving lenders confidence in him as the business owner.
“As Mike’s business grows, he can always exercise his right to repay the loan at any stage without a repayment fee.”
Goatcher Chandler Ltd borrowed £110,000 over a 60 month period.
The owner of Goatcher Chandler Ltd, Mike Harris, has offered to talk to any potential borrower about his experience. Please contact nick@rebuildingsociety.com for more information.
