Clydesdale Bank loan facilitates PPE order for NHS

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12/05/2020

Crest Medical Ltd, a medical industry supplier, has secured a £600,000 import loan facility from Clydesdale Bank, owned by Virgin Money UK PLC, to procure a £10 million order of surgical gowns for the NHS.

The Warrington-based supplier was awarded a contract to supply 720,000 scrub suits direct to the NHS in 12-weekly shipments from mid-April to the end of June this year.

However, in order to progress with manufacturing of the order, Crest Medical was required to pay its Chinese supplier an upfront deposit.

Clydesdale Bank was able to facilitate an import loan within 24 hours of receiving the request, enabling Crest Medical to make the deposit payment and commence manufacturing immediately.

The first consignment of surgical gowns was delivered to the NHS on Tuesday 28th April, with the remaining orders planned to be delivered in six separate consignments in the coming weeks.

Crest Medical has more than doubled its PPE supply, and is using a dedicated Airbus 340 with the words ‘Thank you NHS’ emblazoned on it to make weekly trips to its suppliers in Malaysia and China.

Barry Cunningham, group finance director at Crest Medical, said:

“This is a crucial order, not just for us as a business, but for the NHS. As everyone knows, PPE for frontline health care workers is in huge demand. Without this financial support to make an upfront payment to our manufacturing supplier, we may not have been able to fulfil the order requirements.

“Understanding our business is one of the unique aspects of the service from Clydesdale Bank. The team recognised the urgency of our request and acted immediately to turn around the finance needed.”

Andy Nurse, relationship manager at Clydesdale Bank, said:

“The COVID-19 pandemic is presenting many challenges for businesses. We truly understand how SMEs operate and know that cash flow and funding can be critical – at any time, but probably more so during a crisis.”

Clydesdale Bank’s Working Capital Solutions (WCS) team also played a key role in supporting the Crest Medical financial assistance. WCS set-up invoice finance solutions to provide Crest Medical with quick access to cash, and provided swift approval on the trade loan increase outside usual parameters, allowing Crest Medical to fulfil its contract.