“The deal was turned around really quickly. From our first meeting, they were really easy going, personable and friendly - it felt right. They worked like trojans, to get a facility in place in time.
Peter Littler, Select Security Services
Sector: Security Services
Facility Size: £1m
Covid-19 has thrown unprecedented challenges at UK businesses with some sectors devasted whilst others have managed to maintain enough levels of trading to keep their businesses alive. However, for some firms, they have been presented with opportunities brought about as a consequence of the pandemic. For those businesses ensuring they had sufficient cashflow to capitalise on these opportunities has been vital. Select Security Services understand that having an ongoing supply of working capital is crucial to making plans come to life.
Based in the North West, Select Security Services have been providing security and facilities management solutions to businesses across the UK since 2005. Having built up a client portfolio with well-known brands such as the NHS, Redrow, Taylor Wimpey and John Lennon Airport to name a few they recognise the importance of trust as a key feature in relationships.
Following a change of ownership in 2017 the company has grown even stronger with new contracts in guarding and technical security at Construction sites and an increase in mobile patrol services and key-holding. Having recently won a substantial contract to provide security & staffing at pop-up COVID testing sites their delight and optimism soon switched to the question as to how they could fund the delivery of this contract. In order to guarantee the supply of staff, paying wages on time is crucial when you may need to wait longer for payment from your client. As a long-standing client of Pulse Cashflow Finance, they were given the peace of mind they needed that the funding support would be there to enable them to make the contract run smoothly.
With annual turnover of £6.5m, Select Security Services benefit from a £1m funding facility provided by Pulse Cashflow which gives them the confidence to seek out new contracts as they continue to grow their business.As Peter Littler of Select Security Services explains knowing you have a funder on your side makes the difference: “The business first came across Pulse Cashflow back in 2014. As part of our expansion plans, we had bought from KPMG, the fixtures, fittings and goodwill of a company that had gone into administration. The business was fortunate enough to self-fund the purchase, so we did not approach our funders at the time”.
As a result of the purchase, Select Security Services doubled the size of their business overnight.
As Peter continues: “Funding the transaction was not a problem but accessing the required working capital to service the clients we had acquired was vital. Following the purchase, our funders expressed a loss of appetite to provide funding to support the work being delivered to the clients of the company that had gone into administration as it didn’t have a good reputation. It seemed their relationship with our business didn’t count.”
Peter then contacted his financial advisor Dick Appleby of Factoring Finance who having reviewed the situation put him in touch with Toni Dare at Pulse Cashflow. With crucial funding needed urgently, Peter didn’t have time to approach several funders and trusted his advisors’ recommendation.
As Peter continues “The deal was turned around really quickly. From our first meeting, they were really easy going, personable and friendly - it felt right. They worked like trojans, to get a facility in place in time. Their MD, Toni and Operations Director Nicki are always at the end of the phone. For what they offer, they are the best in the market. They were easy to deal with – not too big and not too small. I would never go anywhere else.”
With the Covid pandemic continuing into 2021, ensuring that businesses have the necessary funding to survive or thrive is key. With hope on the horizon for an end to this crisis, businesses need to look forward.
As Peter concludes: “The Covid crisis has helped our business as we have supported clients working on the frontline. We continue to have aspirations to build our business and are always looking for growth. We don’t have a crystal ball but with the right funding partner and solution, we have the confidence to set ambitious objectives – we want to achieve £10m turnover within the next two years and we are confident with Pulse Cashflow as our funding partner – it’s a realistic target!”.
