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THE SITUATION
The Carpenter’s Arms is a Christian residential addiction recovery centre in Leicestershire which offers 12-month rehabilitation programmes to those challenged by addiction.
The two main Trustees, Bryan and Judith Spence, are well known within the charity sector, with Bryan the recipient of a Pride of Britain award in the past.
The charity was given the opportunity to purchase a large property with more than 30 bedrooms that it currently rents after agreeing a price with the landlord – the only catch was that completion had to happen within four to five weeks.
THE SOLUTION
Andre Parcian, Redwood’s Head of Business Development (Midlands and Wales), was approached directly by broker Amanda Worthington from B2B Finance.
The charity had just seven days to exchange with a deposit of £100,000. Once that initial hurdle was overcome, the race was on to complete within 12 weeks, or the charity would lose its deposit.
Redwood stepped in to lend to the charity’s property holding company, against two properties The Carpenter’s Arms already owns. The combined value of these properties – one large HMO and one small HMO – was £875,000. With an LTV of 70 per cent, the loan total from Redwood was £625,000, with NatWest providing further help with a separate loan.
Despite the tight timescale, Redwood managed to make an offer within a week of the charity’s application.
THE EXPERIENCE
Andre said: “This was the first time The Carpenter’s Arms has worked with us and the Trustees have been very complimentary, especially as we completed a week before the official deadline.
“With our flexible and customer focussed lending solutions, we were able to structure a deal to ensure the charity could acquire the large property. Owning the property instead of renting will save the charity considerable annual repayments, helping to safeguard the long-term future of an established charity which is doing fantastic work.”
Amanda added: “This was a very complex case with lots of hurdles for Redwood to overcome. I approached Redwood as I knew I would be well supported to make this deal happen.
“I am really grateful that Redwood took this on. From the beginning, everyone involved had the mentality that this would happen despite the challenges, and that any issues will be worked around somehow.
“I know the charity is over the moon to own the premises.”