Construction company Tolent has secured a £12m finance facility to help it after a challenging year.
The Gateshead-based business has sealed the asset based lending facility from Independent Growth Finance (IGF) to provide the working capital and the flexibility it needs to support its business.
It comes as Tolent – which has been involved in landmark North East developments, including Riverside Sunderland, the Hadrian’s Tower residential scheme and the £85.5m Milburngate development in Durham – emerges from the challenges of the pandemic, which came at the same time as it closed its southern division.
Chief executive Andy McLeod said the business, which is expecting to end 2021 with a turnover in excess of £200m, needed the right type of funding that matched its needs and ambitions.
He said Tolent has weathered the lockdowns while delivering projects including the NHS Nightingale Hospital in Sunderland.
The project, which was completed in just over three weeks and is now used as a large vaccination centre, has also led to a string of wins in the healthcare sector and strengthened relationships with a number of NHS trusts in the North East.
He said: “There’s no denying that 2020 was a challenging year for us and many more within the industry. We have dealt with the reality of the pandemic bringing reduced site profitability across our portfolio and at the same time, feeling the strain of closing our southern operations which has been a difficult transition.
“However, with the last year now behind us, securing this funding is a hugely positive step and allows us to look forward and reshape the business accordingly over the next few years. I would like to thank all of my colleagues, our clients and supply chain partners for their commitment and support during this time and to the team at IGF for their expertise and assistance in putting this funding in place.”
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Tolent has recently won new contracts in the education, industrial, residential and housing sectors, with its 53 live projects including the new £26m leisure centre in Berwick.
Its housing arm also continues its expansion into Yorkshire with four new projects worth £25m starting this year in the region.
Alongside work already completed last year, the company will deliver more than 3,000 homes in the North East and Yorkshire over the next three years.
Richard Spielbichler, asset based lending director at IGF, said: “We are proud to support Tolent, enabling the business to continue to grow and deliver the type of projects that matters so much to a great many people.
"Unlike options offered by big banks, where access to funding is becoming increasingly difficult, asset-based lending will afford Tolent the necessary flexibility to navigate its next growth chapter and the challenges that come with it. It also provides the business with an opportunity to take full advantage of its current momentum and secure its future.”
Chris Lloyd, KPMG’s debt advisory team lead in Yorkshire and the North East, added: “We were delighted to advise Tolent on this. Securing an appropriate facility from a lender who understands their sector was an important consideration for Tolent and by working closely together, we able to help them get the funding they needed, supporting their strategic ambitions.”