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Commercial Property

North East construction company Tolent cements healthy future with £12m finance facility

The firm which is working on Durham's Milburngate and Riverside Sunderland secured the facility from Independent Growth Finance

The Milburngate development in Durham where work is being carried out by Tolent Construction(Image: handout from Tolent)

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.

Andy McLeod, CEO of Tolent(Image: Tolent)

“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.”