Rosa Cordeiro - 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.

Having managed ‘Golden Brush’, a thriving hairdressing business with a loyal client base, for several years in her rented premises in Dereham, Norfolk, Rosa fell ill. She decided to return to her native Portugal for treatment and to be closer to her family. A subsequent period of much needed convalescence helped Rosa get on her feet, ready to return to the UK and back to work.

She had been away much longer than originally anticipated however and when Rosa arrived in Dereham she was faced with demands for rent from the landlord and several large unpaid utility bills. It was also clear that in the months leading up to her illness Rosa had not been giving things her usual scrupulous attention. On top of the bills, much of her stock was also going to need replenishing.

Rosa had no savings behind her. Her lack of recent income and the current fragility of her business meant the mainstream lenders were unwilling to support her. It seemed Rosa would have to call it a day and look for someone else to give her a job.

However, a conversation with her good friend, fellow Portuguese native and financial professional Carla, convinced her that there was still an option worth pursuing - an approach to Foundation East. Uncertain of her own linguistic skills, Rosa was further reassured by her friend’s willingness to act as an interpreter and advocate.

“Carla and Rosa outlined the problems facing ‘Golden Brush’ and the kind of support they thought it would need to get it back to being a viable business,” says Foundation East Business Loans Manager Peter Davis. “Between us we were able to come up with a good plan, including some elements of basic reporting and timetabling for repayment. A loan of £4,500 was agreed.”

The doors of the salon reopened in the late summer of 2006, and very soon the news that Rosa was back in business spread. Delighted customers started to flock back, fringes were trimmed, locks were blow-dried and the tills rang.

Foundation East maintained a presence in the background, offering further marketing support for growing the client base.

Such was the level of Rosa’s success however and so quickly did tales of her talents spread that by the spring of 2007 business was booming.