Flooring contractor switches banking allegiance

A STAFFORDSHIRE flooring contractor has moved its business banking for the first time in more than 100 years to secure a £7m refinance package with Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets in the West Midlands.  

Having weathered a challenging market during the recession, Tamworth based Stuarts Industrial Flooring Ltd wanted to retain its position as the largest independent UK contractor in the industrial flooring sector.  

The finance restructure, arranged by Richard Smith,  from Lloyds TSB’s Corporate Markets team and advised on by Roy Farmer of Dains, is intended to support the business’s continued success and capital growth.  

Stuarts Industrial Flooring delivers close to two million sq m of precision concrete floors every year, primarily to the industrial warehouse market.  It has recently benefitted from work in connection with the London 2012 Olympic Games. It also works on projects for all the big-name supermarket brands, and was responsible for the installation of the 30,000m² heated floorslab at Gazeley’s sustainable warehouse development in Chatterley Valley.

In addition to  Tamworth, it  also has offices in Edinburgh, Boroughbridge and Southampton. Over the last 12 months it has branched out into Scandinavia.

Privately-owned, the firm has an annual turnover approaching £30m and directly employs a team of almost 200 personnel.  

David Harvey, managing director, said the refinancing with Lloyds TSB would aid future growth.

“The recession was a difficult time for us, as our core business comes from new-build industrial developments and construction of this kind slowed considerably.  We’re now seeing the market starting to pick up again and with this comes opportunities for us to work on a wide variety of specialist contracts, both in the UK and increasingly overseas.  

“We reviewed the banking market with Dains, our business advisor, and it was clear that Lloyds TSB was prepared to go the extra mile to understand our business.”

Richard Smith, Relationship Director for Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets in the West Midlands, added: “Stuarts Industrial Flooring has been an important feature of the Midlands business landscape since it first established a base here some 80 years ago.  We’re pleased to be working with such a respected local business and look forward to building on this relationship for many years to come.”

Stuarts was advised on its transaction with Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets by Mike Copestake and Janet Rhodes, of Freeth Cartwright, while Carol Betts, of HBJ Gateley Wareing acted on behalf of the bank.