Food firm plans to open new site in Manchester with backing of £13.75m loan

A food services firm is looking to open a new site in Manchester after landing a £13.75m loan.

Pensworth secured the loan from Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance.

Established in 1975, Pensworth is a family-run food service supplier.

The company delivers supplies to thousands of business customers, as well as hospitals, hotels and care homes, with a client base including Goldman Sachs and Boots.

It is currently taking on 30-40 new customers every week, in which they specialise in a six-day service and next-day delivery on all orders.

This deal follows a period of strong growth at the firm, with revenue rising from £18m in 2012 to more than £60m last year.

This is driven by its headcount of 270 staff across depots based in Surrey, Southampton, Bristol, Kent, Leicester, Sussex and South Wales.

The £13.75m loan will be used to create a site in Manchester within the next 18 months, which will be built from scratch, and allow the firm to look at more sites across the North in the future.

Pensworth is aiming to increase its current turnover to £100m over the next four years.

Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance is the fifth largest independent operator in the asset based lending market.

The firm provides a full suite of flexible asset-based lending and invoice finance products to small and medium sized enterprises.

So far this year, the firm has invested a total of £135m to businesses across the UK.

Tony Young, from Secure Trust Bank, said: “Working with Pensworth, we have been able to support the firm with a facility that will allow them to expand at a rate which suits them. It is an established business with over 40 years’ experience, and the company’s strength of operations across the South is proven by the impressive growth figures over the last few years.

“The importance that the firm has on local areas, creating jobs for the local economy, shows the potential that Pensworth has to replicate this model in the North.”

Michael Mitchell, finance director at Pensworth, said: “Secure Trust Bank took the time to understand our business and what we wanted to achieve.

“The support provided acts as a catalyst for our growth aspirations, with a long-term plan giving us the facility that will match our growth potential. Our expansion plans show the potential that Pensworth has to grow across the country and Secure Trust Bank’s confidence in our business has given us a huge boost for the future.”