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Press Releases
Mike Harrison, Regional Sales Director, Enterprise Finance Europe and
Dynshaw Italia, Finance Director and Chief Operating Officer, Cobra Beer.
6 November 2006
EFE raises the bar to win Cobra Beer contract
Enterprise Finance Europe (EFE), part
of Bank of Ireland Group
and one of the UK’s fastest growing solutions-driven asset-based lenders,
has seen off strong competition from many of the major high street lenders
to provide a multi-million pound invoice discounting facility to Cobra Beer
– one of the UK’s fastest growing beer brands – less than three
weeks after being approached by the company.
Founded in 1989 by Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE DL, Cobra Beer’s award-winning products are available nationwide in more than 6,000 Indian restaurants, 5,000 outlets of major supermarkets and off-licenses and now to nearly 6,000 mainstream bars, pubs and clubs,
as well as being exported to over 45 countries worldwide.
It was also recently awarded the Business Excellence Award by The Drinks Business and won 12 Gold Medals at the prestigious Monde Selection Awards
- more than any other beer company in the world.
The £96 m turnover company has recently embarked upon an aggressive period of growth in a bid to break further into the highly-lucrative general mainstream drinks market, culminating in a £10m fully-integrated advertising campaign across all terrestrial and digital channels and on London Underground tube cards under the strapline – ‘Unusual thing, excellence’.
To facilitate this growth, EFE, which has built up a solid reputation for its work in providing bespoke asset-based facilities to some of the leading food and drink producers in the region, has delivered a stand-alone multi-million pound invoice discounting facility far and above what the company’s existing provider was willing to offer. This includes access to a team of dedicated account managers as well as an all-encompassing online system.
Says Mike Harrison, Regional Sales Director, EFE: “I am absolutely delighted that EFE has been chosen ahead of a number of our competitors to provide the facility to a brand leader like Cobra Beer. The company was looking for a finance provider who could provide a flexible stand-alone facility, over and above their existing working capital arrangements. I am delighted that we were able to put together the package we said we would, which also included an increase to their existing trade finance facility, in such a short period of time. The whole process, from initial meeting and indicative terms to a formal, finalised offer took less than three weeks. I am now looking forward to working with the Cobra Beer team over the coming weeks and months to help grow their business further.”
Adds Finance Director and Chief Operating Officer, Dynshaw Italia,: “Cobra Beer is going through an accelerated programme of growth and required some additional headroom to help fund this. EFE was more than happy to help and has provided us with a solution which substantially increases the finances available as we look to drive up market share in the UK.”
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