A west Devon builders’ merchant has used a loan from Finance South West to expand its business into Cornwall. The move has been so successful it is now considering creating further outlets spanning the two county’s borders.
Tinhay Building Supplies Limited opened its 13 thousand square feet warehouse at a former factory on Launceston’s Newport Trading Estate in September 2007. The expansion has proved popular with both trade and retail customers and now the company is looking at other potential bases in a line stretching from Plymouth to Bude.
Joint director Robert Sorrell said: “Launceston is a thriving market town and our new yard, on its north eastern edge, is convenient for customers. We want to capitalise on that success and become the premier builders merchant across east Cornwall and west Devon. Tinhay has been trading from Lifton, just six miles from Launceston, for ten years. We are based here but an in-town presence is attractive to customers as it saves them considerable travelling time.”
Finance South West provided the loan that gave Tinhay’s bankers the security they needed to match-fund it.
Chris Burt, the Loan Fund Manager at Finance South West, says: “What Tinhay has achieved in just six months of trading from its new premises is outstanding. They have rewarded our confidence in them and proved that a local firm, with local knowledge and a good track record, can compete with the big players in the building supplies market. Robert and his co-director Paul Davies have years of industry experience, they are respected, and can deliver what the market needs. That level of expertise bodes well for future expansion.”
Tinhay employs 18 people across its two sites. It supplies a full range of building materials from cement to roof tiles and bathrooms to paving slabs. It is open to retail as well as trade customers and typical clients include developers creating five or six-home new build estates to individuals carrying out extensions or barn conversions.
ENDS
Dated 23/05/08
Notes to Editors
For further information contact Robert Sorrell at Tinhay Building Supplies Limited on: (01566) 784385 or email: sales@tinhaybuildingsupplies.co.uk.
Finance South West, which is part funded by the EU through the Objective Two Programme for the South West, is an £18 million investment fund targeting small and medium sized enterprises in this region with a range of equity, mezzanine and debt capital. Finance South West can provide commercial finance from £10,000 up to £1 million for buying, starting or growing a business in the Objective Two area of the South West. It has now invested over £10 million in the region’s businesses, levering over £20.6 million into the South West economy.
The Finance South West Loan Fund has invested over £4 million in 73 small and medium-sized businesses, levering more than £6.5 million into the South West economy, safeguarding 226 jobs and creating 159. The Finance South West Growth Fund has invested a total of £7 million in 14 companies, levering over £20 million into the economy, creating 46 jobs and safeguarding 259.
The company also offers business planning services and mentoring through a network of qualified professionals and a panel of non-executive directors to help businesses achieve their goals.
Finance Cornwall Fund Managers Limited is an investment company authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority registered in England and Wales, number 05010380, registered address 14 High Cross, Truro, Cornwall, TR1 2AJ.
For further information visit: www.financesouthwest.co.uk
PR contact:
Samantha McKay, PR Manager, Formedia (PR to Finance South West and Finance Cornwall) on: 01752 762120 / email: samantha@formedia.co.uk |
