Success Stories

What do you do when you’re in the middle of a funding round and a pandemic hits?

As many of its customers – trade showrooms and builders’ merchants – closed their doors in response to the spread of the coronavirus, bathroom distributors CM Marketing took quick action, changing its working methods and assessing its cashflow.

Only four months into its life as a business, Harvey House Nursery was forced to close to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

Having dedicated funds to buying in stock for Royal Ascot 2020, London tailors Oliver Brown were left significantly short when the lockdown was enforced and the racing event took place without spectators.

Like all restaurants, Hot Stone London was ordered to close once coronavirus spread more widely throughout the UK.

Government restrictions introduced in March meant YHA had to close its entire network of youth hostels to guests. To remain operating, the charity had to implement numerous cost-saving measures, but the lack of bookings caused cash reserves to run out.

Before COVID-19 struck, this Oxford University spin-out was aiming to secure seed funding so it could further its work to provide the world’s cheapest on-demand solar power.

When the coronavirus lockdown prohibited the sale of residential property, demand for housing fell flat.

Vaix was in the middle of its venture capital fundraising when the COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to discussions with investors.

The impact of COVID-19 meant energy start-up Voltaware was unable to roll out its technology or fully support its commercial activity.

About to secure additional funding to continue building its fuel cell electric vehicles, Riversimple Movement’s business was suddenly under threat once COVID-19 hit.

Like most hospitality businesses, the Greenhill Hotel was instructed to close its doors to visitors, to help stop the spread of COVID-19. With no date for when it would be able to reopen, and unable to qualify for any government grants, the business found the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) to be its best option for financial support.

With most of its customers forced to close as part of the Government’s COVID-19 shutdown, Liverpool-based CEG Packaging saw demand for its services diminish very quickly.

With its next financing round completed, Momentum Bioscience was funnelling much of that investment towards setting up a crucial clinical pilot study for its new product. Then COVID-19 hit, forcing major cost-cutting and threatening job losses.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted a number of key markets for this Bristol software company, forcing the business to refocus its activity in different areas.

Government guidelines implemented to tackle COVID-19 meant cookery school Little Kitchen had to close its doors. With a much-needed relocation to new, larger premises already underway, the business required a boost of working capital to stay operating. For this, it applied to the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).

With COVID-19 forcing schools and nurseries to close, the few key-worker children left in the care of Little Adventurers Nursery weren’t enough to sustain the business financially. Facing cashflow difficulties that threatened its future, the nursery looked to the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) for vital support.

Like all hospitality businesses forced to shut down in the drive to tackle COVID-19, London’s DC Bars needed a boost in cashflow to prepare itself for an eventual reopening.