In June 2013 The Studio Venue Company finally signed a new fifteen year lease. On our Caxton Gate building in the heart of Birmingham City Centre. We’d been working on these negotiations of over 2 years and the deal had included taking on 2 new floors. As soon as pen met paper we put into action our latest expansion plan. We needed to change completely a number of our meeting rooms and training areas. To accommodate larger bookings and also create some great new spaces on our 2 new floors.
The issue with SMEs where cash flow is a daily problem is how we were going to fund the improvements. On one hand we had the right space to fulfil our plans. But on the other we had no cash to make the dream a reality. We were turning down valuable customers and bookings every day. And needed help in realising all that we had worked towards.
We set about costing out the various projects with a view that we would plan our growth over 2 years-worth of works. We tendered the works and met our newly appointed contractors. It was at the point when we were putting together a schedule of works that our introduction to PMD Leasing came about. The realisation immediately was that through their financing we could realise almost all the works immediately. It changed our plans completely and allowed us to fast track all the works in all the spaces, so allowing us to expand much more quickly.
The team at PMD helped at every step, making sure that everything was costed properly and that we understood completely how the finance model was put together, what we needed to pay and when. The process was simple and relatively pain free. We worked closely with both Sam and Jill and getting the job done.
Today we have the Studio in Birmingham that we had all dreamed of and worked hard to create. Our revenue is up by 28% and we have created some of the most innovative spaces in the Midlands for our customers to enjoy. Dealing with PMD was excellent on every level and we will certainly look to use them again as we grow other Studio’s across the UK.
Nigel Boyd-Thorpe
Director and Founder