The pandemic was a challenging time for many businesses, and at The Marine Group we experienced our own share of difficulties resulting from the demise of banking partners. Thankfully, we have been able to use that experience to reflect, restore and restructure. The final piece of the puzzle was finding the right working capital to get going effectively.
The right funding partner
Following an introduction from Halo Corporate Finance, the Rivers Finance Group has proven to be the perfect partner, taking a three-pronged approach that has helped us to hit the ground running and restart sustainably.
That approach included arranging initial seed capital loans so we could complete the restructuring process. Once that was repaid, Rivers provided working capital loans to help us recruit staff and cover initial operating costs at our marine services arm at Cardiff Marine Village.
Once the marine services aspect of the business began to make progress, Rivers supported us with asset finance in partnership with another specialist lender, for the acquisition of new dredging equipment, enabling this element of the business to get underway.
Rivers Chairman, Ratan Daryani, said: “We exist to help SMEs thrive, and we are always delighted to find ways to support dynamic, hard-working business owners to achieve their goals. Access to appropriate funding is a fundamental part of creating a pro-enterprise environment, and we look forward to seeing what Chris and the team at The Marine Group achieve going forward.”
Director of The Marine Group, Chris Odling-Smee, said: “The Marine Group is a complex business, and Rivers was willing to take the time to understand how it worked and what we were looking for. We needed to work with people who were sophisticated in their understanding, and they delivered that. I think it’s also important to note that behind the business transactions there’s a human reality – families who depend on the jobs, and communities seeking business growth. Most lenders want two years of trading accounts and as a restart we couldn’t provide that. Of course we have provided security for the finance, but they have really learned about what we’re doing and as a result given us the ability to recruit and grow again.”