Bankers sometimes do the decent thing….

I received a call from a really good bank manager contact of ours last week. They had progressed an application for a loan from a business and had given it an ‘Agreement in Principle’ backed by the enthusiasm of the banker to do the deal, which involved the purchase of a business premises – the biggest capital outlay this growing business had ever considered.

The problem was that between the AIP and the formal sanction the increased costs of importing goods for this business (‘post Brexit’) spooked the underwriters and the agreement was withdrawn – by which time the business owner had (prematurely!) committed to go ahead.

What followed was a few ‘I beg to differs’, anger, frustration, loss of goodwill but also a long-established customer with a problem to solve.

It would have been easy for this banker to fall back on the underwriter’s decision and the fact that the bank hadn’t given a formal commitment – and then hope for the best for their relationship. However, he instead involved us at Stirling Partners Finance.

This was slightly brave – bankers have to be careful recommending third parties as if things go wrong it can reflect badly on them and their bank. In this case there was also a chance that we would introduce the case to a competitor and the entire relationship could be lost.

However, at ‘Stirling Partners’ we are good problem solvers. We understood the issues for the business and also the bank. We ‘pulled out all the stops’ and found a lender that specialised in warehouses and industrial units and they have now sanctioned the loan (and at similar pricing to the original deal).

The banker recovered and gained respect for having ‘gone the extra mile’ and putting himself out and as a result was able to retain the relationship. The client got a good deal and was able to go ahead with the purchase – and at ‘Stirling Partners’ we had solved another problem……