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Loans approved for Cumbrian businesses pass the £2 million mark
The Cumbria Asset Reinvestment Trust (CART) has now approved loans to Cumbrian businesses worth just over £2 million.
“It took us almost four years to pass our first £1 million milestone in June of last year,” said CART Chief Executive, Grahame Latus, “but we have agreed loans worth a second £1 million in only eight months. I think it is a really encouraging indicator of the entrepreneurial spirit and determination of local business owners. Unfortunately, it also shows the difficulties businesses are facing in finding finance from traditional sources.”
CART is a Community Development Finance Institution, part of a network of alternative sources of business finance across the UK. “We have now helped over 150 Cumbrian businesses with loans,” said Grahame Latus, “and they cover the full range of sectors and sizes. Preserving or creating jobs is a priority and many of our clients are using CART loans to grow, develop and do just that. Our financing comes mainly from the government and is available to businesses that are considered too high a risk or not suitable for normal bank loans.”
Creating a country home in Cockermouth
The approval that took CART past the £2 million mark was a loan of £25 000 to Kate Johnson, an interior designer from Cumbria who had been working in London for several years. She wanted to buy an existing home and interiors shop in Cockermouth but was struggling to find financial support for the purchase.
“I thought I had tried all the options but then someone from a local credit union mentioned CART to me,” explains Kate. “I had a horrible feeling that it was going to be another scheme that sounded good but couldn’t really help someone like me so it was fantastic and a huge relief to talk to them and find that CART could give me what I needed at an interest rate that wasn’t ridiculous.”
Bev Bamford of CART has been working with Kate since her first contact at the end of September 2009. “Kate had the relevant background and experience to make a go of the business and the shop’s trading history in Cockermouth was already encouraging,” says Bev. “With our help on the loan, she has been able to buy the business, start ordering fresh stock and, in doing so, has already created a part-time job in the town.”
Kate has had a tough first couple of months, as she explains: “I took over the shop in November 2009, just a couple of weeks before the dreadful floods that swept through Cockermouth. I was really lucky as the shop wasn’t badly affected by the water thanks to the quick actions of a neighbour but, of course, it meant that my first Christmas of trading wasn’t as busy as I had hoped.”
“More recently, though, I have noticed that people are trying to shop more locally and support the traders in the town. As insurance claims from the flooding come through, people are interested in my mix of quality paints, traditional country furniture and locally-made soft furnishings so the disaster may turn out to have a silver lining for my business.”
Kate is in the process of re-branding the business as Country Home Interiors and the shop is at 4b Station Road in Cockermouth, open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm daily. She offers design advice, making up on curtains and soft furnishings and at-home consultations as well as selling well-known home ranges such as Farrow & Ball Paints, Cath Kidston goods and Emma Bridgewater ceramics. She is also stocking the Linum range of fabrics and cushions from Sweden and can order a wide range of both modern and traditional-design furnishing fabrics on request.
Other businesses that CART has helped recently include a café and bistro in Carlisle and a photography studio in Maryport as well as an engineering firm in West Cumbria that employs more than 40 people.
If you are looking for a cash loan for your business and the banks have not been able to help, contact Grahame Latus and his team at CART on 01768 867118 or via www.ccart.org.uk for advice on next steps.
“We are already well on our way to approving loans that will take us towards £3 million,” said Grahame, “and, with repayments and interest coming in from successful local businesses, we are in a position to reinvest, exactly as the name CART suggests.”
Kate (left) with Bev Bamford of CART and a bottle of champagne to celebrate the £2 million milestone. |
