Funding to help Lund Precision Reeds set sights on export expansion

A YORKSHIRE-based business which makes weaving reeds is gearing up for overseas expansion after securing extra fund- ing.

Funding Circle, the online borrowing portal for small businesses, has completed a loan deal worth £30,000 with Lund Precision Reeds, a Bradford-based company, to help it grow.

Lund Precision Reeds is the UK’s only manufacturer of weaving reeds, supplying the UK and overseas textile markets.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The company was established in 1871 to manufacture weaving reeds as Lund’s of Bingley.

Today, the company has eight staff and a turnover of £276,536.

Martin Owen, technical and production manager of Lund Precision Reeds, said: “The funds will be invested to help streamline and develop our manufacturing processes, enabling us to expand our current overseas position.

“Before going to Funding Circle we had been in discussion with banks for more than two months without success.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

James Meekings, the co-founder of Funding Circle, said: “We are extremely pleased to have been able to provide Lund Precision Reeds with a loan facility to help develop areas of working practice and, ultimately, to help grow the company’s exports.”

Funding Circle is one of the UK’s biggest online lending and borrowing portals.

It enables small, well-established businesses in the UK to borrow between £5,000 and £100,000.

It gives creditworthy businesses access to funding within 10 days once approved.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Funding Circle has offered more than £21m to businesses since August 2010.

Mr Meekings added: “By offering a simple online platform, we want to provide companies such as Lund Precision Reeds with a solution that tackles the existing high cost and complexity of lending through banks.”

Funding Circle was co-founded in August last year by Samir Desai, formerly of Olivant and the Boston Consulting Group, Mr Meekings, formerly of OC&C Strategy Consultants and Andrew Mullinger, who has worked for Citigroup, Ernst & Young and Nomura.

Related topics: