Charlton Brook

Business Loans Case Study

Left to right: Charlton Brook’s Andrew Morton, Ian Howson of Finance Yorkshire, accountant Peter Hollis and Charlton Brook’s Michael Morton

The Company

Landscaping and garden supplies company Charlton Brook was established in Sheffield in 1978 by a father and uncle team.

The company – which today offers a full range of landscaping services for the commercial sector including housing developers such as Persimmon Homes, Kier Homes and Strata Homes - has been kept in the family ever since with Andrew Morton and brother Michael taking over following their father’s retirement in the early 90s.

The Challenge

Andrew said: “Like many companies, we were affected by the recession and wanted to inject some cashflow into the business so our accountant Peter Hollis of Hollis Chartered Accountants suggested we look at what Finance Yorkshire could offer.”

The Solution

Charlton Brook is now looking to build on the foundations of the family business after a business loan of £56,000 from Finance Yorkshire.

“The funding will help us to purchase vehicles and increase staff levels. As our business is seasonal and workload can vary considerably, we will look to take on staff through agencies, but this is still good news as it means we are nevertheless creating new roles for local people.”

The Investment Rationale

Finance Yorkshire Investment Manager Ian Howson said: “Charlton Brook are not alone – many of the region’s businesses are still feeling the impact of the recession so this funding will be a welcome boost, giving them working capital to get them back up to pre-recession trading capacity levels.”

Future Expectations

Said Andrew: “It is extremely encouraging that our turnover is steadily increasing, resulting in further job creation, improved cash-flow and profitability. It is also encouraging to see our domestic customer base increasing, as well as demand for our new landscape design services.

“For instance, employing a book-keeper recently means I may be able to delegate some of my administrative duties to them - freeing me up to explore areas like our landscape design services.”

Note: this case study is from Finance Yorkshire’s previous fund. Read more about Finance Yorkshire

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