Spotlight onLendingWhilst other banks are closing their doors,for us it’s very much ‘business as usual’.

Autumn/Winter 2008

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Established almost 25 years ago, wehave had a commercial presence fromthe early days, but this has grownsignificantly in recent years as wehave developed a quality portfolio ofsecured loans to owner-occupiers andprofessional property investors.

Whilst other banks are closing theirdoors, for us it’s very much ‘businessas usual’, and we are actively lookingto grow our lending business. This islargely because, having avoided manyof the more risky adventures of thehigh street banks in recent years, weare well placed to ride out anypotential recession.

For us, that new business will typicallyrange from owner-managers to multi-million pound companies, for whom wecan facilitate their lending requirementsbut also meet all their banking needs.Not only that, but the type and level ofour customer service has led to us beingvoted top bank for service in each of thelast four years, measured against all ofthe high street banks.

Being a boutique bank, we are able tooffer tailored solutions to individualcustomers unique to their businessproposition. This might include capitaland interest holidays, split terms andone-to-one management suppor tbefore, during and after purchase.

When it comes to pricing, we stillprice against Base Rate, although ifLIBOR pricing is preferred, it canbe arranged. Our margins usually varybetween 1.5% and 2%, dependent onproposition, and we will certainly aim tobe competitive in the market.

We pride ourselves on the quality of ourdeals. These have been based ondealing with owner managers, orexperienced operators who candemonstrate success or display theskills necessary to own and manage asuccessful business. We have also beensuccessful in developing a leisure andhealthcare portfolio, and we are willingto look at most opportunities, providingthe business is responsibly managed,both financially and socially. We tendto stay away from agriculture andresidential property lending.

We have developed some strongre la t ionships wi th pro fess iona lintroducers, being a founder member ofthe NACFB, and we are always keen towelcome new introducers in to the fold.You’ll find us approachable, flexible andresponsive to your needs, as agreeing anew proposition is of little benefit if itdoes not end up as a loan on our books.

In this edition of our Spotlight series,we highlight some examples of howUnity’s commercial enterprise team hasprovided the loan finance to secure thefuture of a number of UK companies.

Relationship BankingQuantity surveying firm Ridett Ltd hasbeen with Unity Trust since 1989.Di rector John McCombie wasinstrumental in moving the company’sbanking to Unity from a high streetbank, a decision he thinks helped thebusiness survive during the recessionof the 1990s.

“If we’d banked with someone else I canhonestly say I think we would have falleninto receivership,” says John. “Thebuilding industry slump of 1991 reallyaffected our cash position. A couple ofcustomers went out of business and wewere left with bad debts. I believe otherbanks would have pulled the plug, butUnity supported us through thosedifficult times. They helped us putprocesses in place to reduce the time ittook for customers to pay us - it hadreached an average of over 100 daysat one point!”

Unity helped restructure thedebt incurred during thistime. Ridett reduced itsoverdraft by taking out aloan against the valueof property owned bythe business.

“With Unity the whole process wasstraightforward,” says John. “Theyknew our company and they knewme personally.

When I phoned up it wasn’t like talkingto a call centre – I was speaking tosomeone who knew me.”

People are vital to Ridett’s work, whichinc ludes quant i t y su r vey ing ,construction dispute resolution, buildingservices management and contractservices. The business relies on the all-round experience of its professionals tokeep construction projects on track forits clients. So it’s not surprisingthat Ridett’s management valuesrelationships in business.

Ridett came to Unity because of thebank’s focus on personal relationshipsand this has kept the business bankingwith Unity over the years. “I wouldn’t goanywhere else and I’d cer tainlyrecommend Unity Trust to businesses I

thought it was right for – companieswhose principal people are known

and who want to bui ldrelationships with their bank.I think that’s vital – it’s atwo-way process.”

“With Unity thewhole process wasstraightforward”

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John McCombie

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A loan from Unity Trust helped CD Teammanagement carry out a£5.5 mil l ion Vendor Init iatedManagement Buy Out. With the existingowners reinvesting in the business,managing director Jo Fone andoperations director Richard Dearingborrowed £2.5 million from Unity tocomplete the deal in March 2008.

“From our first meeting, it was clear thatStuart Gotobed, our Unity developmentmanager had lots of experience incommercial lending,” says Jo. “Buteven more importantly, Stuart was keento understand our business beyond thenumbers: who we are, who ourcustomers are and what we have tooffer them. Unity gives us the same sortof personal service that CD Team givesto its own customers.”

It’s this emphasis on customer service,built up since CD Team was establishedin 1995, that Jo and her colleagues

sought to maintain through the buyout.“Unity’s loan enabled us to retain ourtwo most important assets: our peopleand our customers,” says Jo. “Ourbusiness plan focuses on growingorganically from this stable base.”

CD Team specialises in data storageequipment and services. Operating in thebusiness-to-business sector throughoutthe UK, this helps customers store,share and protect their data on opticalmedia (CD & DVD) and other emergingtechnologies such as Blu-ray andflash memory.

The company has a broad customerbase, ranging from the gaming andentertainment industries to central andlocal government, utility companies andbroadcasters – anyone who needs tostore, duplicate and share data.Relationships with these customers –some of whom have been with CDTeam for more than a decade – are keyto the business.

Any banking relationship is naturally onethat needs to be built around a commonunderstanding. As Jo says “We valueclose relationships and that’s what welike about working with Unity: we feelthey’re interested in working togetherwith us.”

What do you do when your loanfacility falls through at the eleventhhour? Gary Conrad turned to UnityTrust to borrow the £100,000he needed to start the StonegrillSt Albans restaurant.

“When the high street bank with whomI’d arranged a loan tightened its lendingcriteria at the last minute, I was put outto say the least,” says Gary. “Fortunately,my accountant mentioned that Unityoffered commercial lending. So I turnedto them and the experience wasrefreshing – it’s great to be able to talk tosomeone in person and feel valued.”

Gary is investing a further £100,000 inStonegrill St Albans following the sale ofh is successfu l company whichmanufactured own-brand children’stoys for retailers. He hadn’t intended tostar t another business but hisexperience in the Far East inspired himto launch Stonegrill St Albans.

“I travelled to Hong Kong on businessthree or four times a year, taking buyers

out to see the factories where we madethe toys,” Gary explains. “We used to eatat the Stonegrill restaurants out there andthe buyers loved them. Having the foodcooking in front of you on a heated stonereally adds to the experience – and it’s avery healthy way to eat.”

When Gary sold his toy business, hetracked down the Stonegrill company inAustralia and enquired about starting afranchise in the UK. Searching for alocation that would give him access tothe right market, Garyfound premises in StAlbans and, a f te rsecuring the loan fromUnity, opened therestaurant in May2008. “The decisionf rom Uni ty cametogether quickly afterwe put our proposal tothem,” says Gary.

Initial figures from thebusiness showed thatGary was right to think

Feeling valued

Understanding the business

Jo Fone

people would love the Stonegerillconcept. “Trading was above budgetafter the first two months. Our sixmonth target was to serve 500 meals aweek, and we were up to 400 from thetime we opened,” he says. Gary hasworked hard to keep this momentumgoing with a 10% discount offer on theStonegr i l l St Albans websi te –www.stonegrillstalbans.co.uk – and in20,000 leaflets.

“Now we’re up and running, I don’tneed to be in touch with Unity on a day-to-day basis,” says Gary. “But I knowthey’re there when I need them.”

The Stonegrill experience

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Meeting the deadline

Can we help you with your financing needs?Contact the Commercial Enterprise Team for a chat:

Andrew JessonHead of Commercial EnterprisesUnity Trust Bank plcCongress House, 23-28 Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3UBTel: 020 7436 6030Mobile: 07711 412 866Email: commercial@unity.co.uk

When Manhattan Furniture heard thatthe property they had occupied onlease since the early sixties was beingput up for sale by auction, they had tomove very fast indeed. And, needing abank that could move fast with them,they turned to Unity Trust Bank for a£2.4m loan.

Iain Flitcroft, managing director said,“The facilities were confirmed veryrapidly and we were able to exchangecontracts within the timeframe. Fromthe date we were told of the sale to thedate we became owners of our premiseswas just six weeks. The whole thingcaused us a few grey hairs but ifAndrew Jesson, our developmentmanager, hadn’t been so supportivewe’d have had a whole head full!”

Kitchen furniture company Manhattanare leaders in their field. In 2001, theywere granted a Royal Warrant for thekitchens they had manufactured andinstalled for the Royal household. Theywere also the first kitchen company togain the Furniture Industry ResearchAssociation (FIRA) Gold Award for‘fitness for purpose’ in Heavy DomesticUse and the first contract kitchencompany to hold the FIRA Gold Awardfor installation as well as for product. Inthe last 50 years, Manhattan havedesigned and built over 500,000kitchens throughout the UK – and allthis from leased premises.

And that was the big black cloud thathung over their future; the lease wasdue to expire. Moving was, of course,an option but there was nothingsuitable locally and the skil ledworkforce might not have wanted torelocate. Added to which, the disruptionthat would be caused to those theysupply would have almost certainlymeant lost sales.

Manhattan’s relationship with theleaseholder had always been a difficultone. Several times in the past they hadtried to negotiate to purchase the leasebut had failed to do so. They were notifiedof the landlord’s decision and had tomove very fast. Their financial advisors,Black Tower, put the names of a numberof lenders into the frame. It was onlyUnity Trust Bank that was prepared to

take up the challenge to meet thedeadline imposed by the landlord.

The loan means that this highlyrespected company has secured itsfuture as a supplier to house buildersthroughout the UK. As suppliers to theUK building industry, Manhattan hasensured the continued supply of thefurniture and also secured the jobs oftheir own workforce.

Iain Flitcroft continued “Since ourfounding in 1946 we have grown to bea highly respected company in theindustry. I’m proud to be part of theteam that has secured the future forManhattan and I’m grateful to Unity forthe way in which they were prepared towork with us and pull out all the stopsto ensure we secured our premises.”

Visit www.unity.co.uk

Iain Flitcroft and Andrew Jesson

UTB236October 2008