Prime-cut ThinCats loan for award-winning Edinburgh steak restaurant
Picardy Place Steak Restaurant came to life in 2014 when entrepreneur Barrie Brown saw the potential for a high-end eatery in the centre of Edinburgh. Now part of a group with two extremely popular and award-winning restaurants, a themed bar and a boutique hotel, the business excels in providing premium steak sourced from local suppliers, in attractive surroundings.
To get the businesses to the level he desired, Barrie had a complicated array of financial arrangements, which became cumbersome and expensive. He approached the bank to see if they could help to simplify the situation, but was unable to win their support. His accountants then got in touch with Neil Davidson at Alderburn Finance Solutions, who specialise in finding the right funding source for each client. Having already heard of the company.
Neil Davidson said:
“Ask anyone in Edinburgh to name their favourite high-end steak restaurant, and they will nearly always say ‘Steak at Picardy Place’. That’s because the restaurant offers quality and value to a broad range of ages and wallets, and as a restaurant (and related hotel) it is highly successful and profitable.”
When the two men met, Neil approached the meeting with the view, ‘Does my instinct tell me that I would be happy to invest my own personal money in this business?’ Barrie’s genuine enthusiasm, knowledge and experience was impressive, and added to the solid operating figures, demonstrating the viability of the project.
Alderburn Finance recommended ThinCats to Picard Place Steak Restaurant.
Neil continues:
“I value ThinCats understanding of risk; they try to work out how the deal could be done, rather than look for reasons why it shouldn’t be done. This provides a far better analysis of the situation, and is a much fairer way of assessing the viability of a proposal.”
Within a few weeks, Picardy Place Steak Restaurant was refinanced, resulting in a substantial reduction in costs for the company, and providing additional borrowing to expand and develop the businesses in line with Barrie’s impressive future plans.
Neil concludes:
“Once again ThinCats has delivered, and Barrie can now give his full attention to growing his business rather than worrying about ineffectual short-term funding. I feel sure that, based on this experience, they will return to the ThinCats platform to fund their next project in the not too distant future.”
Delighted at how smooth the process was, Barrie said:
“I appreciate the fact that both Alderburn Finance and ThinCats took the time to understand the business, and the plans that I have for development. I have been able to focus on the future and it is looking very bright indeed.”
