Case Studies - Business Loans
Foundation East and some of the businesses it has helped have also featured on BBC Look East, the BBC website and Anglian TV.
Some examples of the companies that have benefited from a loan from Foundation East:
When Andrew Mayze offered to wash a friend’s windows he never imagined it would lead to a major career change. Support from community finance organisation Foundation East has helped Andrew get his foot on the ladder of his own business venture. Read more
Surviving a downturn in business often requires an ability to reinvent yourself to exploit new opportunities. Entrepreneurs Daniel Hill and Andrew Lees gained some timely help Foundation East which has enabled them to grow a successful catering business from its smoothie and juice bar origins. Read more
A major trial to evaluate how Omnisense’s technology can promote efficiencies in the logistics industry is just about to start. Such was their belief in their technology that Omnisense’s founders worked for 18 months unpaid and without external funding before a small loan from Foundation East took them to the next level. Read more
Goldsmith David Coe has been given a fresh start to help him take his ancient art into the 21st century. Read more
NOTHING has got in the way of passionate childcarers Kate Thorpe and Shelly Bailey and their dream of owning a successful day nursery. Even when they were refused bank finance at a crucial stage in their building work they never gave up hope. Read more
CEG Productions, which supplies stage lighting, sound hire, staging and power for events and drama productions, began in 2007 when three friends aged just 15, 16 and 17 who had all met through their voluntary and paid work providing stage management support, decided to join forces and advertise in the local area. Read more
David Hubbard's free range sausages – including the infamous Satan’s Ashes – are gaining a sizzling reputation in Bury St Edmunds. Read more
A small loan from Foundation East has allowed Mark Rutty and Vince Glue to expand their business through tough times, and they are now equipping two young people with the skills they need to become valuable members of the UK workforce. Read more
Scoliosis SOS
From the age of 11, Erika Maude has been living with scoliosis, the twisting curvature of the spine that in extreme cases can lead to severe disfigurement, discomfort and disability. Her experiences of conventional treatment in the UK – two years in a back brace for 23 hours a day and the prospect of complex spinal surgery – and the success of alternative responses to the condition in Spain, drove Erika to explore the feasibility of opening a non-invasive treatment centre in Martlesham, Suffolk. Read more
Maldon Theatretrain
From rehearsals in a quiet Maldon church hall to the bright lights of London and a live performance at the Royal Albert Hall? Sounds like the unrealisable dream of a wannabe Denise Van Outen or an aspiring Daniel Radcliffe. A date with destiny in the capital however is just one of many thrills in store for young students attending the Essex town’s newly opened performing arts school – Maldon Theatretrain - courtesy of a Foundation East loan and the determination of centre manager Mark Everard. Read more
Shotley KidZone
Committee members of Shotley Kidzone felt like they’d finally found the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle when they found out about Foundation East’s Enterprise Loans last year. They had spent two years raising funds for a much needed portacabin. Twice they thought they’d made it. Twice the unexpected happened. First, a grant fell through. Second, a supplier pulled out. Read more
DO film
When Phill Williams, a Lavenham man with a great business idea, found a bank turning down an agreed loan at the last minute due to directives hidden in corporate small-print, he could have thrown in the towel. He didn’t. Read more
Golden Brush
Foundation East loans aren’t just for start-up entrepreneurs or people needing financial support to help them to move in to employment. In the case of hairdresser Rosa Maria Cordeiro, the funds made available meant the difference between the recovery of a once successful salon or its premature closure. Read more