Ryecroft Glenton (RG) has successfully supported international freight specialist Universal Forwarding in securing a government backed CBILS loan to give the company a financial safety net during the Covid19 pandemic.
Established in 1989 by current Directors Trevor Harbottle and Philip Naylor, Newcastle Airport-based Universal Forwarding is one of the region’s foremost suppliers of international freight to Blue Chip companies across the globe.
In the early part of this year as coronavirus took hold, the company’s operations were impacted as the global logistics market hit severe disruptions, trade lanes ground to a halt and air freight was turned on its head as the collapse of airline networks meant that there were simply not enough aircraft to carry the items that consumers, businesses and governments needed.
As a result of the CBILS loan combined with the furlough scheme, the freight forwarder was able to retain 100 percent of its workforce throughout the restrictions, and now aims to position itself as strongly as possible for the recovery by rebuilding market share in resilient trade lanes.
With its key markets being China, Europe and the USA, Universal Forwarding felt the blow of the pandemic as early as January. With the support of Ryecroft Glenton it was able to create a cashflow projection and access to specialist advice on legislation that was used for the CBILS application, and the £100,000 loan hit the bank within four weeks.
Ryecroft Glenton provided subsidised services to Universal Forwarding as a result of its recent strategic collaboration with RTC North, which helps North East-based businesses access part-funded advice and support on matters such as the preparation of financial forecasts and securing funding via the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.
Trevor Harbottle, Director of Universal Forwarding, said; “As soon as the pandemic hit the Far East at the turn of the year we knew that it was likely to affect our global trade deeper and for a prolonged period of time, so it was crucial for us to act quickly.
The support has had an immediate impact, the CBILS loan gave us a safety net to get through this uncertain time and refocus our expertise so that we are ready to bounce back and respond to the shift in demand.”
Ian Smith, Partner at Ryecroft Glenton said: “Due to our close working relationship with Universal Forwarding we were well placed to step in quickly and support them as soon as the pandemic hit.
“Universal Forwarding is a successful, forward thinking company, and easing the burden of cash flow in what has been an unprecedented trading period has meant that the business has retained all of its staff and continued to trade through this crisis. It is now well-placed to push on and strategically grow the business with the safety net of the CBILS loan.”
