Hargreaves Services secures banking deal

The group has increased its core UK facilities from £115m to £175m, comprising a £125m revolving credit facility and a £50m invoice finance facility.

The arrangement has been agreed with a five bank group comprising RBS, HSBC, Lloyds, Santander and Barclays and is committed through to October 30 2015.

In a statement, the company said: “The decision to secure new facilities early will result in an exceptional charge in the current financial year to write off unamortised arrangement fees totalling £400,000 but will provide certainty, lock in slightly improved pricing and provide the group with increased debt capacity to support its growth aspirations.”

The group also announced that its joint venture, Tower Regeneration, has agreed banking terms in line with its business plan.

The statement adds: “We are also pleased to announce that coal shipments from the Tower site to the Aberthaw Power station have commenced ahead of schedule even though the site is still in its early development phase.

“All site development activities are expected to be complete around May 31 2012 and the site will be in full operation thereafter.”

Hargreaves Services acquired Maltby Colliery in South Yorkshire from UK Coal in February 2007.