Arbuthnot Commercial ABL provides £5m facility for GJB Group
Arbuthnot Commercial Asset Based Lending (Arbuthnot Commercial ABL) has supported window and door suppliers, GJB Group (including Listers in Stoke on Trent) with an ABL package totalling £5m, which is an increase of £2.4m on the facilities offered by the group’s previous provider. The core facility is accounts receivable, supplemented by plant & machinery and cash flow loans.
Sean McLaughlin, partner at corporate finance specialists, Challenge Capital LLP, who will also be joining the group board said: “While the turnover of the business had grown significantly the funding line from the previous providers had not kept pace. The facility structured by Arbuthnot Commercial ABL has provided the group with a platform for significant growth, enabling the business to make further investments in its product range and marketing.”
The business was originally established 25 years ago as GJB Developments, a fabricator and supplier of window and door systems to trade sales and new build customers, operating from Essex and (following the acquisition of Listers) in Stoke. In 2017, industry veteran Roy Frost acquired the businesses with big plans to develop them into a major force in the sector.
Roy Frost, Group MD of GJB Group, said: “We approached Arbuthnot Commercial ABL because we found ourselves constrained by sector policy limits with our previous funders. Arbuthnot has been a breath of fresh air by being willing to invest time to understand our business and the industry in which it operates. Doing that has meant that we now have much bigger and more flexible funding facilities which will support our continued growth. The Arbuthnot team have already proved themselves on the relationship front by committing senior people who listen and find pragmatic solutions to the problems that inevitably arise through a refinancing process. We are all looking forward to the journey with them.”
