A long-established UK creative agency approached us after their bank had rejected a growth funding request on affordability — despite the business already servicing a more expensive loan. We secured £200k from a specialist lender, structured so the business could draw a further portion within three to five months. The first tranche refinanced the high-cost existing facility and freed cashflow for the sales, marketing, and business development push the bank wouldn't back.

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Client snapshot

Industry: Creative services — design and branding for property and consumer-brand sectors

Size: Around £4m turnover, around £500k net profit, 40+ employees

Years operating: 27 years

Description: A UK creative agency with deep specialism in property-sector design and consumer-brand work. Owns its commercial premises. Healthy balance sheet — around £1.5m net assets, no CCJs, strong commercial credit score. An existing main banking facility supported by two charges. The director team had brought the business through both a recession and a pandemic, and was now pushing for the next phase of growth.

Geography: United Kingdom — with a majority of property-sector revenue coming from international projects

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The challenge

The business had a clear plan: lift turnover from around £4m to £5–5.5m inside two years, then prepare for a possible exit. To get there they needed £400k — £100k to refinance a high-cost short-term loan that was eating profit, and £300k to invest in sales, marketing, and business development. Their main banking partner came back with a flat rejection. The credit team cited affordability — but the business was already servicing a more expensive facility, and the feedback was generic. No clear path back in.

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Why they came to us

• The bank's affordability answer didn't match the trading reality — they wanted a second view that looked at the whole picture

• An existing short-term loan at a punishing rate was draining monthly cash

• The growth plan needed funding against assumptions the bank wouldn't engage with

• They wanted access to the full lender market, not just the high street

• A live parallel grant opportunity meant they needed funding structured around timing — not a single lump sum

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Our approach

We treated this as a structural problem, not a credit problem. The business was sound; the high street had used the wrong test. A 27-year trading history, fully-owned commercial premises, a healthy debtor book, and a long-tenured director team reads very differently to a specialist lender than it does to a high-street credit committee.

• Mapped the full lender market — bringing in specialist, alternative, and Growth Guarantee Scheme-backed options

• Targeted lenders comfortable with creative-sector revenue patterns and international project exposure

• Prioritised tranche-able structures so the business could match drawdown to actual capital deployment

• Negotiated an extension when the leading offer's expiry threatened the parallel grant timeline

We positioned the business as it actually was: operationally strong, cash-generative, well-secured, ready to deploy capital against a clear growth plan. The selected lender came back with an unsecured tranche structure — first drawdown immediately, with a further drawdown available three to five months later at the same pricing if everything stayed in order.

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The impact

• Secured £200k as a first tranche — refinancing the high-cost loan and funding the immediate sales, marketing, and business development push

• Tranche structure preserves the option of a further drawdown within months, on the same terms

• Frees the founder to pursue a parallel public-sector grant without overcommitting on debt

• Keeps the original bank relationship intact for the next round — the high-cost facility is gone and the growth story is now provable

The business has the capital it needed, structured around the way it actually operates. The second tranche is there when it's needed, not before. The bank rejection became a redirection, not a roadblock.

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Takeaway

When a bank declines on "affordability" it often means the credit team has applied a high-street model to a business that doesn't fit it. Specialist lenders look at trading history, balance sheet strength, and sector experience together — not just monthly debt-service ratios in isolation. A 27-year track record, owned premises, and a strong client book are signals the high street tends to undervalue. The right structure can matter as much as the right amount: drawing capital in tranches preserves optionality, reduces interest drag, and keeps parallel funding routes — grants, future debt — on the table.

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