Day Nursery Group

A well-established day nursery business operating across six locations came to us facing a situation that is more common than many business owners realise: their incumbent lender had decided to exit the market, leaving them without a funding partner and needing to refinance an existing facility while continuing to run and invest in the business.

The requirement was £3.6 million, enough to refinance the existing debt and provide the capital needed to continue investing across all six locations.

Losing an incumbent lender is unsettling. The business was in good shape, well-established, well-run, operating across multiple sites. But the circumstances created time pressure, and the need to find a new lender who understood the childcare sector and could move efficiently was real.

The risk in this situation is rushing toward the nearest available option rather than the most appropriate one. That is how businesses end up in the wrong facility with the wrong lender.

We assessed the business's financial position and its long-term requirements carefully before approaching the market. We identified Allica Bank as the right partner ,a lender with a genuine commercial approach to SME finance and the sector understanding to assess the business on its merits rather than through a rigid process lens.

We then worked closely with both the client and the Allica team to navigate the application efficiently, managing the complexity of a multi-site business to secure the best available terms within a tight timeframe.

The client secured a £3.6 million facility with Allica Bank, refinancing the existing debt and retaining the capital needed to continue investing in all six locations. Financial stability was restored and the business was repositioned for long-term growth.