The Client:
Parker and Son (Printers) Ltd are a 3rd generation printing business who have been trading since 1896. They are well known as one of Burton upon Trent’s longest established, family-owned, colour and commercial printers. After 70 years at their Guild Street site, the business moved to the prestigious Maltsters development in 2008, with a new purpose-built factory, studio, and office. This helped to expand the company’s horizons and strengthen their commitment to producing quality print for their valued customers. The business aims to provide a total print service to the business sector, with a host of experienced staff who can take jobs from concept to completion by utilising the latest technology.
The Deal:
Parker and Sons were previously funded by a high street bank via a Confidential Invoice Discounting facility (CID facility). Due to the pandemic however, the company faced problems with sales; they reduced massively and the knock-on effect of this was the financial performance of the business and subsequent balance sheet erosion. As a result, Parker and Son’s funding was being restricted and the high street bank were trying to push them to a new funder who they had a partnership agreement with. This new funder would not have necessarily met the needs of the business.
The company sought guidance from their accountants and set up a meeting with our own Stefan Radymski from Goodman Corporate Finance. Stefan provided much needed guidance with consideration to the client’s specific needs and problems and explained the options available to them.
This meeting gave Parker and Son a plan: the directors and management team decided to follow Stefan’s advice and then met with Liam Hebberd from Bibby Financial Services.
Success!
Given the detailed brief provided by Stefan, Bibby understood the issues that Parker and Sons were facing due to the pandemic and had confidence in the company’s plan to rebuild.
As a result of this, action was taken for the client: Bibby were able to quickly implement and structure a CID facility which has allowed the business to maximise its availability. By talking to Bibby, the client was able to secure the deal that perfectly suited their business needs. Bibby ensured that the facility was set up in such a way that no month end reconciliations were required, allowing the management team at Parker and Son to focus on the business.
The guidance and support from GCF and Bibby have helped the business to survive and thrive because they got funding which would have been otherwise unavailable to them from their high street bank. This means that Parker and Son can maintain and build on their amazing, longstanding reputation within their sector and continue to provide printing services for many more generations to come!
Quotes:
We approached Matthew Parker from Parker and Son for a quote about the deal, he commented that
“it was a real concern having a non-supportive bank, especially due to the pandemic and the problems that arose from it. As such, we really required a new lender, so we investigated Goodman Corporate Finance and got in touch with Stefan. GCF supported a market appraisal and put us in touch with Bibby which has helped massively. We are proud of this new relationship and now we have fantastic funding for growth!”
Stefan also commented on the deal, noting that
“here at GCF we offer a bespoke, handheld service from initial enquiry to completion. During this process we meet with the client, obtain all details, and manage out-going and in-going funder relationships. Alongside this, we conduct a full market appraisal which isn’t solely based on numbers. We match the right personalities for our client. This deal is an example of a great job done by all concerned. Now our client can now focus on increasing sales within the business knowing his new funder is right behind him and fully supportive of cash flow needs.”
Liam Hebberd (Business Development Manager – Midlands) from Bibby Financial Services also noted that
‘Parker and Son are a long-standing family business with a wealth of history, and we are very proud to be able to support them with a confidential funding facility. As we are all aware, the pandemic has affected the sales’ many industries, no more so than the printing sector. We see time and time again that when things get tough, the high street banks are often inflexible. Bibby is a family-owned business and specialises in supporting small and medium size businesses. We aim to tailor each facility to the needs of the individual client; based locally in the East Midlands we look to work closely with our clients through these hard times to ensure we deliver the funding and support they need to come out the other side.”
You can read more of our case studies with client’s success stories here.