Fiduciam is growing its operations in Northern Ireland with the granting of a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) loan to a wedding and conference venue, Drenagh. Fiduciam has continued to expand its operations in Ireland, both north and south of the border led by strong demand for loans from businesses and property developers.
Drenagh is a highly popular Georgian mansion in County Londonderry. It usually has a very full schedule, but this year was forced to cancel all events during lockdown. Like many businesses, this left it with overheads mounting but no income. In fact, it took until mid-August to host the first socially distanced, post-lockdown wedding.
The popular venue, which is normally fully booked with both weddings and conferences, was a perfect match for a CBILS loan from institutionally funded lender Fiduciam. The CBILS loan allowed the borrower to lower their financing costs, not only because of the lower interest rate, but also because the UK Government covers all interest during the first 12 months. Fiduciam granted the loan as it looked at the solid history the business had, as well as its longer-term prospects.
Fiduciam’s expansion in the Northern Irish market means it now has a loan pipeline approaching £20 million for CBILS loans from Northern Irish businesses. It is dedicated to Northern Ireland and plans to open a Belfast office just as soon as government health guidance permits it.
Kenneth Duffy, Fiduciam country manager for Ireland said, “Throughout all the economic uncertainty, Fiduciam has remained fully committed to the Northern Irish market and our loan to the Drenagh wedding and conference centre is additional proof of that.
“Our investment in Northern Ireland continued throughout the Covid-19 crisis; we have expanded our team and we are opening a Belfast office as soon as the second Covid-19 wave is behind us. Our commitment has paid off thus far, our market share continued to increase this year as we helped more Irish businesses to achieve their dreams and objectives.”
Conolly McCausland, owner of Drenagh commented, “None of us could foresee Covid-19 and envisage how it would disrupt our business, so the CBILS loan from Fiduciam is a perfect solution for businesses like ours that have a solid business but have been hit hard by Covid-19. Fiduciam is developing a good reputation in Northern Ireland and its Irish team is very efficient and a pleasure to work with.”
CBILS is designed to support the continued provision of finance to UK smaller businesses during the Covid-19 outbreak. It is delivered through British Business Bank accredited lenders such as Fiduciam. The scheme enables lenders to provide facilities of up to £5m to smaller businesses across the UK who are experiencing lost or deferred revenues, leading to disruptions to their cashflow.
