The Best Deal

Bridging E SSE NT IA L NEW S O N S HORT T E RM F UN D I N G April 2009 The Best Deal V ictoria Hall in Barrow-in-Furness was purchased by Kuis PLC at an Allsop auction for the incredible price of £110,000. This figure is remarkable given that only 2 years earlier the Hall had undergone an extensive programme of refurbishment and restoration to the tune of £2M. Located close to the town centre with easy access to all local amenities, Victoria Hall is a fully restored, Grade 2 Listed office building of 13,500 square feet. The hall’s previous occupiers were a local charity who went into liquidation in 2007. The property was in the hands of administrators at the time of the auction, and after making their winning bid Kuis PLC applied to Bridging Finance Limited for rapid access to the £90k they required to complete on the transaction. Based on our existing relationship with the firm we were happy to come on board and we advanced the required funds within 5 working days. The extent of the bargain that Kuis PLC had obtained was confirmed when our surveyors returned a valuation of four times the price that had been bid! Kuis PLC are a Bolton based property management and consultancy firm with an impressive track We’ve Ever Seen! Bridging Finance Limited recently provided the funds for Kuis PLC to complete their acquisition of what could be the best value commercial property investment in the UK! record of successful commercial acquisitions and developments throughout the North of England, including the Swan Hotel in Bolton and the Europa Industrial Estate in Grimsby, the latter being acquired for £4M and currently valued at £13.5M. The property expertise of the Kuis PLC team was in evidence once again when they began marketing for tenants at Victoria Hall. Having made huge savings on the purchase of the property, Kuis PLC were able to significantly undercut their local competition on lease costs. Whilst most suppliers of commercial office space in the district were offering £8-10 per square foot, space in Victoria Hall was made available from only £3.50 per square foot. Within three months all available space had been leased to quality tenants from a wide variety of sectors including accountants, opticians, recruitment consultancies and the region’s leading urban regeneration organisation. Victoria Hall is now producing a total rental income of £66,400 per annum. Chris Baguley, Managing Director of Bridging Finance Limited said, “This has proven to be far and away the best value commercial property purchase we have ever seen. The returns being produced at Victoria Hall are amazing given the initial purchase price, and the fact they are being achieved whilst still providing such superb value for the hall’s tenants makes them all the more impressive. “The acquisition and marketing of Victoria Hall has proved to be a great advertisement for the expertise on offer at Kuis PLC, and should help to generate considerable interest in their consultancy services. We thoroughly enjoyed working with them and look forward to developing our relationship and working together on more property acquisitions in the future.” Commenting on this latest successful addition to the Kuis PLC portfolio, Director Paul Kiely said, “Our investment in Victoria Hall has been a fantastic experience from the beginning and I really believe it was meant to be. The superb price for which we secured the property allowed us to take it forwards in a way that has provided outstanding value, not only for Kuis PLC but also for Victoria Hall’s new tenants. “We worked hard to target established businesses that may not have been actively seeking new premises. We argued that in the current economic climate they owed it to themselves to make sure they were occupying the best value office space in the area. The response was fantastic and we could have filled Victoria Hall four times over. “We are grateful to Chris Baguley and his team at Bridging Finance Limited for providing the funding facility required to complete the purchase of Victoria Hall quickly and smoothly. We have worked with Bridging Finance Limited in the past when refinancing some of our long term arrangements and have always been impressed with the fast, reliable and customer focused service they provide. I look forward to developing our relationship and they will be our first port of call when Kuis PLC next requires a short term funding facility.” Chris Baguley of Bridging Finance Limited and Paul Kiely of Kuis PLC Do you have a client with short term funding requirements? Call us now on 0845 337 5811 Bridging Finance Limited Sponsors Charity Climber Bridging Finance Limited was pleased to sponsor Trevor Edwards of Unique Consulting Solutions for his participation in a recent ‘Climb Everest’ event in aid of the 5 Stars Scanner Appeal. The 5 Stars Scanner Appeal is raising £1M to provide a much needed replacement MRI scanner for The New Manchester Children’s Hospital. The state of the art scanner will cut the time of a scan from 45 minutes to 15 minutes, allow doctors to diagnose cancer and cancer related illnesses earlier and enable them to provide treatments that will ultimately save children’s lives. The ‘Climb Everest’ event took place on the first weekend of March at the Manchester Climbing Centre. A number of teams pooled their efforts to climb a collective distance of 8,850 metres, the same height as Mount Everest. By the end of the event the teams had achieved a total of 10,964.5 metres - a fantastic effort that took them past their target by 24%. Commenting on the day, Mr Edwards said: “A lot of us novices approached the day with trepidation, but in the end we had a great time and everyone enjoyed the challenge, even those with a fear of heights! The staff of the Manchester Climbing Centre were great and with the help of our sponsors like Bridging Finance Limited we have made a good contribution towards the charity’s overall target. Anyone wanting to support the appeal can donate online on the charity’s website. All contributions will be gratefully received.” For more information please visit www.fivestarsappeal.co.uk Trevor on the wall at the Manchester Climbing Centre Quality Client Care spotlight on our Professional Partners M2 Consulting facilitating change in your business Bridging Finance Limited is focused on the professional sector. Our levels of speed, efficiency and customer service are a reflection of our dedication to this market: A ph phone call to discuss the application with client within 1 HOUR of enquiry. the c From application to written offer usually withi 3 HOURS of enquiry. within hi From offer to completion usually within 7 From work working days. Fully packaged cases often funded withi 24 HOURS. within Paym Payment of commission to the introducer withi 24 HOURS of completion. within Ema updates at all key Email stage of the process. stages A co courtesy call to the referral sourc within 24 HOURS source of completion. Each issue we will be featuring the services of our professional sector clients. If you would like to feature in our next issue please contact Ron Bell by e-mail at ron.bell@bridgingfinance.co.uk M2 Consulting is a leading change consultancy, specialising in survival, business development and profitability strategies; with a customer base primarily in the North West. In the current severely difficult economic climate our Partners can provide a lifetime’s experience which enabled their businesses to survive and emerge out of three major recessions with their resources intact and their core values enhanced. Working in partnership with busy Directors of small and medium sized businesses we assist in putting in place short term survival plans coupled with longer term strategies to give the subject business purpose and goals. We have close and immediate links with other professionals who can provide specialist advice in particular circumstances, e.g. legal, finance, restructuring, etc. Email: peter@m2consulting.org.uk pjs@m2consulting.org.uk Tel: 01706 719925 07801 904455 Chris Baguley Managing Director Paul Hughes 07788 970694 Corporate Development Manager Leanne Higginson Senior Underwriter Daniel Hill chris.baguley@bridgingfinance.co.uk 07903 560742 paul.hughes@bridgingfinance.co.uk 0845 337 5811 Case Processor Tracey Mellor leanne.higginson@bridgingfinance.co.uk daniel.hill@bridgingfinance.co.uk 0845 337 5811 PA to the Managing Director 0845 337 5811 tracey.mellor@bridgingfinance.co.uk Fax 0845 337 5801 E-mail mail@bridgingfinance.co.uk Address Bridging Finance Ltd. Bracken House. Charles Street. Manchester. M1 7BD DX-14447-Manchester-2