Two convenience retail entrepreneurs have secured £105,000 in funding from BCRS Business Loans and the Community Investment Enterprise Fund (CIEF) to purchase a convenience store in West Bromwich.
The funding has enabled business partners Nantha Sathasivam and Vivek Thanabalasingam to purchase Cane Convenience Store located on Hill Top in Harvills Hawthorn, West Bromwich.
Owners Nantha and Vivek bring 16 years of convenience retail experience to the new store. The pair also co-own SK Wines on Soho Road in Handsworth and have successfully managed multiple petrol forecourt stores for the Motor Forecourt Group.
Now trading under the Go Local franchise, the convenience store which benefits from residential, business and passing trade has undergone a full refit to modernise and support the growth of the business.
Co-owner Nantha Sathasivam said:
“The funding from BCRS Business Loans means a lot to us. They treated us like people and genuinely evaluated the potential of the store, which is very different from our experience with high street lenders. Without this support, we wouldn’t have been able to purchase the store. We have big growth plans and are excited about modernising and investing in Cane Convenience Store.”
BCRS Business Loans senior business development manager Lynn Wyke added:
“Nantha and Vivek are exactly the kind of experienced, dedicated entrepreneurs we aim to support. Their vision for growing this established business demonstrates strong commercial potential, and we’re pleased that the funding has enabled them to achieve their ambitions.”
Funded by Lloyds Bank, along with social impact investor Better Society Capital (BSC) and contributions from the three participating CDFIs, BCRS Business Loans, Business Enterprise Fund and Finance for Enterprise, the £62m CIEF aims to invest in 800 small businesses nationally and support 10,500 jobs. The capital provided will be available to SME’s who are unable to access the finance they need from traditional sources.
BCRS Business Loans provides funding between £25,000 and £250,000 to SMEs across the West Midlands and Wales who are unable to access the finance they need from traditional sources. The organisation is committed to lending to viable businesses making a positive contribution to the social, environmental or economic wellbeing of their communities.
BCRS Business Loans recently celebrated delivering £6.2m in loans to 75 companies in total, creating 208 jobs and protecting a further 730 roles while generating £32m in added economic value for the West Midlands and Wales. With BCRS Business Loans focussing on firms under-represented in traditional lending, 31 per cent of the SMEs were female-led.
In the last financial year, lending through BCRS Business Loans resulted in the safeguarding of 889 jobs and creation of 317 roles while adding £51.2m to the economy of the West Midlands, surrounding region and Wales. Of the funding, 34.6 per cent went to the UK’s most disadvantaged areas.
