Acculabs Diagnostics UK secures cash injection

August 5th 2020

Tees Valley-based Acculabs Diagnostics UK Ltd has secured a £325,000 CBILS backed loan with the help of leading North East accountancy and advisory firm, MHA Tait Walker, from NPIF – FW Capital Debt Finance, managed by FW Capital and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.

The loan will be used to acquire equipment and working capital as well as help the business to continue to grow.

This is one of the first NPIF loans backed by CBILS to be secured through FW Capital which was recently announced as an accredited lender under the Government’s CBILS scheme.

Acculabs Diagnostics UK Ltd, based at Wynyard Business Park, is one of the UK’s leading private pathology organisations. It has been providing high quality pathology services to the private sector, the NHS and General Practitioners, and overseas clients for over 30 years. During that time, it has installed and managed over 120 laboratories in hospitals and clinics.

The deal was facilitated by FW Capital investment executives Keith Charlton and Sam Streckert.

Keith Charlton said: “The NPIF and CBILS backed funding we have provided to Acculabs enables them to continue to support the Government in the fight against COVID-19. Acculabs is a well-established business and our funding allows them to look to the future and build on this existing success.”

Chris Gordon, chief executive at Acculabs Diagnostic UK, said: “We’re delighted to have secured the NPIF & CBILS funding and are hugely grateful to MHA Tait Walker and FW Capital for providing their expert support. This injection of capital offsets any COVID-19 induced cashflow concerns and will allow us to continue our growth in 2020 and beyond.”

Steve Plaskitt, a corporate finance partner at leading North East accountancy and advisory firm, MHA Tait Walker advised Acculabs Diagnostics UK on securing the loan.

He said: “We have worked with Acculabs for many years. It is a fantastic business which provides an invaluable service to the health care sector. The outbreak of COVID-19 has meant that some of their existing equipment will be used exclusively by the Government, and this has also presented opportunities to win new contracts to provide further COVID-19 testing.

“We were able to create detailed financial forecasts which identified the potential funding gap which we shared with FW Capital. As a result, we were able to introduce a range of measures which will ensure the business can continue to flourish over the coming months.”

Grant Peggie, director at British Business Bank, said: “Following FW Capital’s accreditation as a CBILS lender, it’s fantastic to see this first NPIF – FW Capital & CBILS-backed investment get off the ground. In recent years we have seen strong levels of investment across the Northern Powerhouse region and we must ensure that following the pandemic this momentum is not lost. To this end, supporting growing regional businesses such as Acculabs Diagnostics will prove key.”

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.