GLE’s Croydon Loan Fund team support riot-affected SMEs.

restaurant

Background

Following the London riots, Croydon emerged as one of the worst affected areas in the Capital. Looted, vandalised and damaged, hundreds of businesses were unable to trade and recover vital financial losses.

GLE’s Croydon Loan Fund team were one of the first points of support available to small businesses in the area.

In the six weeks following the August riots, as well as making £250,000 available to kick-start trade, the team have been an invaluable source of advice and guidance, offering help with negotiating insurance claims, banking and business planning.

Charcoal Grill owner Yemen Ozdemir faced £10,000 worth of losses, following the riots, for water damage, broken equipment and a wrecked shop front.

Yemen was also forced to close the family-run café, resulting in 100s of pounds worth of lost business.

How GLE helped them

Within a few hours of contacting the Croydon Loan Fund team, Advisers met Yemen in person, to fill in paper work and secure an interest-free loan of £10,000.

The Croydon Loan Fund team were also available to offer advice with bank negotiations, as the business awaits insurance payouts.

The impact of this help

The café was able to resume business two weeks after the riots, and safeguarded three staff jobs.

For more information ...

For more information about GLE's business finance services in Croydon visit www.gle.co.uk/croydon.