Case Studies

Our latest success story...

Denise Hughes

Denise Hughes recently opened Flower Pot, a retail flower and gift shop in Aldwick High Street, Bognor Regis, West Sussex.

Whilst raising her family, Denise squeezed in part-time work at a florist and completed the ABC Foundation Course in Floristry. During this time she also worked on plans for setting up her own floristry shop and researched the local market thoroughly.

Unfortunately, when it came to raising the necessary finance she came up against a brick wall as, first her bank and then other main stream lenders declined her application because of a disputed unpaid debt and because, as she says, she was “a tenant, a single mom and on benefits”. Even when the debt was cleared, no one was prepared to help her in funding the business.

Denise then contacted Sussex Enterprise who put her in touch with Capitalise. We met with Denise in Bognor Regis and reviewed the Business Plan and Cash Flow forecast that she had developed. Her application for finance went to our Loan Panel Meeting, which she attended, and was approved.

Although her initial plans to obtain premises in Felpham, Bognor Regis fell through, she was able to obtain lower cost premises in a better location in Aldwick and opened for business in December 2005.

Denise Hughes provides an excellent example of why Capitalise was established in the first place; to help the right kind of people with a good business proposition who are being excluded from traditional sources of finance!

Capitalise Business Support is a founder member of IFcic