Wirral business finance specialist Bathgate Business Finance lends £1m to nine SMEs in June – only the second time it has hit the milestone in a single month. Tony McDonough reports

Bathgate Business Finance has supported nine businesses through its own-book lending, writing £1m in June 2024 from its own internal funds. 

It is the second time the West Kirby-based finance specialist has hit £1m own-book lending in one month. The first time the milestone was hit was in October 2022.

These nine deals included almost £500,000 for a sporting venue, to consolidate an existing loan and secure additional funds to complete a delayed project. This presented a significant opportunity to grow and develop the business.

Another loan of almost £100,000 was for the purchase of fleet vehicles for a business in the automotive sector.

There was also a £20,000 loan for a hospitality business, allowing it to fulfil an exciting and lucrative opportunity for a pop-up venture and around £230,000 for a business in the legal sector to facilitate the purchase of cases from another firm.

As well as brokering deals out to its extensive panel of traditional and alternative funders, Bathgate’s own-book lending – which is not available from most brokers – is a useful option for many SMEs.

It is particularly useful for businesses below a certain level of turnover, who may not have access to a dedicated relationship manager at their bank.

With own-book lending decisions are taken quickly in-house without the need to submit to credit committees that exist in some larger funders, making it faster and easier to secure business finance.

Bathgate managing director, Gordon Andrews, said: “To have once again written £1m in just one month from our own book is fantastic. It is not a service that all brokers are able to offer, and we really are privileged to be able to help our clients in this way.

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“The current economic climate is challenging, and even healthy, viable businesses can find themselves facing cash flow and business finance issues.

“Our own-book lending allows us to make fast decisions in-house, sometimes paying deals out in a matter of days. It’s a useful tool that should be considered by all business owners, alongside wider financial planning.”

For more information about Bathgate Business Finance or to find out more about its own-book lending visit bathgatebf.co.uk, call 0151 625 7323 or email proposals@bathgatebf.co.uk