If your go-to funding option dries up, what would you do?
That was the situation facing our care home customer earlier this year as their original facility expired. On going back to their lender, they found that they had made the decision to pull out of the healthcare market.
This came as a severe blow to the customer who just about survived, despite turning away new residents throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in order to protect existing residents. Now, with the care home returning to full occupancy, profits were up – but this wasn’t sufficient for most lenders.
“After doing the right thing and surviving through the pandemic, it felt like a slap in the face to be told lenders wanted a full 12 months of data to confirm our profitability,” explained Swoop’s customer.
“Just as we felt we were bouncing back, it felt as though the rug was being pulled.”
Swoop’s Commercial Mortgage team took on the case. Ed Brown, Commercial Finance Manager at Swoop explains:
“From a business point of view, the only way was up: the home was making its way to full occupancy and becoming as profitable as it had ever been. For me, this was a business that had shown resilience, courage in taking the right actions to protect people, and I thought they deserved another chance to keep the doors open.”
Swoop worked closely with the customer’s accountant to demonstrate to lenders both the current and future trading position. Ed says:
“We were able to put together a strong case that gave us an opportunity with a lender. That lender bought into our customer as an operator and was willing to take a sympathetic view on recent performance rather than focus on the lean years of the pandemic. In the end, we secured a fixed rate loan to protect against future base rate increases with 12 months interest only and a 20 year repayment profile.”
Stuart Pawelczyk, Head of Commercial Mortgages at Swoop says that the customer is delighted with the outcome:
“This is a great example of a healthy business that will thrive now it has the correct funding deal in place. Once again, our Commercial Mortgage Team at Swoop have gone above and beyond to find solutions when other lenders say ‘no’.”
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