Green shoots of growth thanks to funding

A LANDSCAPING and garden supplies company which has its roots in South Yorkshire is looking to grow its workforce and branch out further into new areas thanks to funding.

Charlton Brook, which offers a full range of landscaping services largely for the commercial sector including housing developers such as Persimmon Homes, Kier Homes and Strata Homes, is using the funding injection from Finance Yorkshire to boost working capital in the face of the recent economic downturn.  

The business, established in 1978 by a father and uncle team in Sheffield, has been kept in the family ever since with Andrew Morton and brother Michael taking over as directors following their father’s retirement. 

Now the next generation team is looking to build on the foundations of the family business after receiving a business loan of £56,000 from Finance Yorkshire.

Andrew Morton 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 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 Finance Yorkshire money, combined with indications that the market is picking up, means we now have more confidence to do so, as well as further increase our plant stock production.

“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.”

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.”