January 2019
By Richard Hamlin, First Merchant Finance plc
No single sector on the commercial landscape is surely more interesting to survey than that of hospitality and leisure. The UK's leisure industry, in all its forms, is a success story employing a major part of the nation's workforce and providing huge revenues for both operators and the taxman. For all of us in financial services this of course means that we must be ready to meet a constant demand for expert advice, strong partnerships and dependable funding sources.
The hospitality and leisure sector is also a fascinating barometer of the economy…so what can we expect to see in 2019? We know that operators will continue to be concerned about workforce supply issues, high rents and business rates and ongoing uncertainty about credit availability from "traditional" sources will place First Merchant's specialist funding in huge demand in the year ahead.
We are expecting expansion of coffee groups, both the independents and the major chains. We will see a healthy year ahead for "grab 'n' go" concepts too – new innovations and proven operators. Today's consumers are looking for value for money and high quality products in their take-out purchases. But it is in the restaurant environment itself where the major changes are taking place. Serving a tasty meal is not enough now: experience is the all-important factor. These days the fight is on to lure customers out of their homes, which is a challenge when the convenience of Deliveroo, Just East and co can bring the restaurant to the dining room. There is an appetite for entertainment in the restaurant venue. We have seen the rise of all kinds of immersive experiences from music acts to burlesque to competitive entertainment such as Flight Club (darts) and Dabbers (Bingo). In a nutshell, eating out in London has become an exciting experience and there is much more to come!*How can First Merchant help your clients?
Since 1995, First Merchant Finance has been providing specialist business loans to pubs, restaurants, nightclubs and hotels across London. We work closely with professional intermediaries such as IFAs, commercial finance brokers and accountants on almost of our transactions. Our straightforward loan facilities may be used for business purchase or for almost any purpose within the venues already operated by your client. We regularly provide funds for complete refurbishment, working capital, buying out a partner, financial restructure or even buying back equity from shareholders. Our loans are on a fixed-interest repayment basis over 36 or 60 months and we do not charge arrangement or drawdown fees. Providing simple loans ranging from £100,000 to £2M, First Merchant is FIBA's lending partner for the leisure sector.