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Finance deal underpins construction firm rescue

Commercial finance support from Cleckheaton-based brokers ABL Business helped construction boss Lilliana Savchuk to rescue her company from the brink.

Lilliana, Director of London City Facades Ltd in Nazeing, Essex, was able to buy out the company after a director’s dispute led to cashflow problems and drove it into administration.

London City Facades Ltd is a leading contractor of external facades which designs, manufactures and installs full exterior facades for residential and commercial projects. Working with a number of well-regarded national developers in the South East and Greater London, the company provides a complete project management service from the design phase through to final installation.

The business was previously known as Luckywheel Ltd but was relaunched as London City Facades when Lilliana took over last year. She has managed to retain all the employees and assets as well as an order book of jobs worth nearly £6m.


Lilliana was introduced to ABL Business by FDS in Wakefield, who provide corporate finance services to owner-managed businesses, supporting them on their business journey from the early stages through to a successful exit.

The ABL team arranged for her to take out a bridging loan for £965,000 from Reward Finance Group Leeds. This enabled her to buy the trading premises from the administrators – including the company’s manufacturing and office facilities and equipment – and to clear all outstanding loans, so the business could relaunch with a clean slate.

A bridging loan is a short-term funding option used to ‘bridge’ a gap between a debt coming due and the main line of credit becoming available. It is most commonly used in property transactions. Or it can simply act as a short-term loan in pressing circumstances and can be invaluable in helping to clinch an urgent property purchase.

Joint Managing Director of ABL Business Alex Beardsley said: “It was decided that bridging finance would be the best option in Lilliana’s situation. She had a three-week window in which to buy back the trading premises from the administrators, so she needed to raise the capital as quickly as possible.

“Due to the circumstances at the time, it was most unlikely that she would have been able to secure a mortgage with a mainstream lender. But now that she is back in business we can continue to work with her to arrange a re-finance of commercial mortgage. With contracts in progress, invoice finance will then allow the company to raise funds against outstanding payments to enable the business to start growing again.”

Lilliana said: “I needed to act very quickly to meet the deadline for what was effectively a make-or break situation and I was extremely impressed by the way ABL Business sprang into action to help me get the crucial finance in place. They carefully assessed the situation and came up with the right solution for my circumstances at that point and are now working with me going forward to keep the business on its trajectory of rapid growth.

“Sometimes problems arise that are out of your control and it’s invaluable to know that you can work with trusted advisors who will support you throughout the process right through to the other side. I’d recommend ABL Business to any business owners who find themselves going through a sticky patch financially and needing reliable support under pressure.”