The job retention scheme ends next month, and the hospitality industry now faces increasing restrictions on trade. As the economic outlook worsens, many small businesses may find their cashflow is restricted as customers take longer to pay invoices or even fail to pay at all. Other businesses will have had a cashflow hit after a period of reduced income and now need cash to pay returning furloughed staff. Money using CBILS either through an invoice finance scheme to release cash quickly from unpaid invoices or a loan to help boost reserves could be useful to help businesses survive the potential turbulence of the coming months.
Ultimate Finance, a CBILS lender offering invoice finance, asset finance and term loans to businesses helped a specialist contractor with a £500,000 CBILS to help them bridge the gap between having to pay returning furloughed staff and receiving income from projects to be completed. As an existing Ultimate Finance customer, the business did not need to provide additional security and had a capital repayment holiday of 3 months.
Melanie Howarth, Relationship Manager at Ultimate Finance says, “The Business Interruption Loan Scheme has been very popular with our existing clients and new prospects, be it through our Invoice Finance, Asset Finance or Bridging Finance facilities. It’s great to be able to help UK businesses stand strong against the impact of the pandemic through our accreditation by the British Business Bank. The term loan enabled our client to retain their staff and prevent any redundancies, which is a relief. They’re now in a great position to take on new contracts and make up for lost revenue”.
For some businesses there may also be the opportunity to use funds from CBILS to improve their business for the future, such as investment to allow them to diversify into new business areas or to improve their current processes.
