In Brief: Finance for care home; Pathvalley named as fastgrower; and more…
A STOCKPORT care home has received a finance package to fund the acquisition of a home in Marple.
Grove Lodge Care Home will also use the funding from Barclays Commercial Bank to refinance existing debt.
Grove Lodge has 15 bedrooms and the new home in Marple will give it a further 14 rooms.
Robert Stokes, who owns Grove Lodge, said: “The financial backing from Barclays underlines their confidence in our business model and their commitment to existing customers.
“The new funding has allowed us to acquire a second home and carry out general refurbishments and the necesssary upgrades to the facilities.”
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A BOLTON pharmacy chain has been named as the second fastest growing privately owned company in the UK.
Pathvalley, which is owned by brothers Anwar and Yakub Ibrahim Patel, was placed in the Real Business/LDC Hot 100 league table after seeing turnover rise 201% from just £464,000 in 2005 to £12.6m.
Now in its 12th year, the Real Business/LDC Hot 100 league table is based on accounts filed over the past four years.
Darryl Eales, chief executive of LDC the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, said: “The Hot 100 has taken on a slightly different look for 2009 and it’s an encouraging mix of business types.
“There are financial businesses and technology companies similar to the leagues of recent years but there’s also a foundation of family firms that have owners or management teams with a wealth of experience and the right attitude to risk taking to grasp the opportunities borne of recession.”
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MANCHESTER-based law firm Berg legal has launched a company secretarial service.
The service will provide existing and new clients with access to a registered office service or a standard company secretarial service for a low-cost fixed fee. The incorporation of a new company can also be dealt with, usually within 24 hours.
Stephen Foster, head of corporate & commercial, said: “Company secretarial services are a time consuming legal requirement. Businesses have enough to contend with in the current economic climate. Clients want access to services from legal service providers they can trust and we feel we are in a good position to provide this.
“And with Companies House getting tougher on late filers and with increased fines in place, it has never been more important for companies to prepare and file their accounts on time.”
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TECHNOLOGY provider Salford Software says it has seen a 165% increase in remote IT access services as businesses keep headcounts low and maximise the use of existing resources where possible.
James Doggart, managing director at Salford Software, said: “Salford’s remote services solutions monitor and react to customers’ potential critical incidents, preventing technical problems and downtime.
“With the business world currently watching the cost of hiring people and reducing training and skills development budgets, it’s making more sense to outsource services to more cost effective third party.”
Salford Software’s clients are in the academic, public sector and healthcare markets.
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HOYLAKE-based Mortgage Needs has acquired and refurbished 1,000 sq ft of new office premises.
The expansion project was funded by The project was funded with a bridging loan from Wirral-based Bridging Finance (NW) for 70% of the property’s valuation.
Graham Allsop, managing director of Mortgage Needs, said: “Like many other businesses, we have found obtaining bank funding to be a much more protracted process at the moment. The bridging loan ensured we didn’t miss out on a great opportunity to expand our offices while we arranged long term finance.”
