Eyewear manufacturers sets sights on growth
Eyewear manufacturer and distributor, Eyeworks Industries has received £1m of funding from Bibby Financial Services as it looks to grow its operations. The new funding provides a mixture of trade finance, bad debt and FX facilities.
Established in 2007 by managing director, Jamie Denholm, the business manufactures and distributes eyewear ranging from reading glasses to sunglasses. The company supplies leading retailers and brands worldwide.
Eyeworks Industries operations’ are based in China, where goods are manufactured and distributed in high volume to meet demand.
The company needed a specialist finance partner with a strong relationship management structure in order to facilitate its next stage of growth. After seeing no potential in a finance package from a high street bank, a referral from a friend placed BFS and Eyeworks Industries’ together.
BFS’s trade finance team were able to structure a £1m funding line to support the business’s ongoing working capital requirements whilst providing same-day supplier payment and access to multi-lingual trade and currency specialists. This means that Eyeworks Industries can now continue to expand its global customer base by manufacturing products in even greater volume to meet growing customers’ demands.
Furthermore, BFS was able to provide bad debt protection in the event of non-payment or insolvency of the business’s debtors, providing certainty of payment.
Jamie Denholm, managing director, Eyeworks Industries, said:
“Having over 25 years’ experience in the sector, I knew there was a gap in the market for supplying high-quality products to the value-driven retail sector.
“Historically, retailers stocked low-quality eyewear which hindered potential sales. Due to the volume of stock we sell on a monthly basis, we’re able to manufacture high-quality goods at a much lower cost. Having vertically integrated operations based in China has also greatly reduced our manufacturing time, meaning we can deliver higher volumes at a faster rate.
“BFS’s expertise and quality service have been a great asset to my business. They truly understand the business model and what we are working towards achieving in the near future. Having bad debt protection in place additionally gives us peace of mind in the eventuality of debtor non-payment. We couldn’t achieve our level of growth without them.”
Phil Tobin, managing director of trade finance at Bibby Financial Services, added:
“Eyeworks Industries is a great example of how growth funding can propel the success of a business. At a time when traditional lenders are retreating from the market, we are able to structure a funding package to suit the needs of a global business model.
“The funding line was created in US Dollars as the preferred currency for Eyeworks debtors and the manufacturing line, however a new FX facility has now been created to enable spot transactions into GBP.
“Businesses often wish to purchase goods from their suppliers to resell but don’t have sufficient working capital or supplier credit terms to do so. Trade Finance enables this process to happen.
“Starting from an initial order of 3,000 units from a major retailer, Eyeworks Industries now sells millions of pieces of eyewear. We look forward to seeing their success continue into the future.”
