UK citizen, UK tax payer, UK business, Live in Spain. How do I get a UK business loan?

clee

Free Member
Jan 16, 2009
21
1
Hi all, looking for wisdom. Hope someone with lending experience/knowledge can help.

I'm one of three directors and three shareholders in a UK drinks retail limited company existing for more than 20 years.

Directors A and B hold 2/3 of the shares and live in Spain and own no property. Director C holds no shares and lives in the UK and owns property.

Shareholder D holds 1/3 of the shares and lives in the UK and owns property but is fully mortgaged. D resigned as a director 12 months ago and is un-cooperative.

The Co has enjoyed double-figure growth every year since 2006 topping £1m ex VAT turnover in 2016/17 and is now an established sector leader. Co started to struggle in 2017/18. Growth let to higher overheads, the pound slumped, Euro stock costs increased, cashflow problems led to inability to restock fast enough on best sellers, result was a fall in sales and a loss of some customers to new competitors with low overheads.

We fell into debt with suppliers and VAT but have agreed payment plans and continue good relations with suppliers although we now have no credit with them. We have no CCJs. We have tried to obtain a business loan of 75K to get back on our feet and fund growth. The fact that two directors live in Spain and that 2/3 of the shareholding is in Spain has prevented us from obtaining a business loan.

Director C and shareholder D are both property owners. Director C is willing to give a personal guarantee for the loan. Shareholder D is not.

Questions:

1. If directors A and B in Spain transfer enough of their shares to director C in the UK to put 51% of share ownership in the UK, will this satisfy the residency criteria for a loan?

2. If directors A and B in Spain transfer enough of their shareholdings to director C in the UK to put 51% of share ownership in the UK, will shareholder D need to agree to the Ltd taking out the loan?

3. If directors A and B in Spain transfer enough of their shareholdings to director C in the UK to make him the majority shareholder, ie more than 1/3, will shareholder D have to agree to the loan, will he be expected to also offer a personal guarantee for the loan as the largest of the other three shareholders?

4. If directors A and B in Spain transfer their shares to director C in the UK, will lenders still refuse to lend as the majority of directors are in Spain even though the majority of shares are held in the UK?

Thanks for any informed responses.
 

Neil Lukins

Free Member
Sep 7, 2017
66
6
Manchester
Have you considered Merchant Finance? Basically it's a loan secured against your card takings. You can get a loan of up to 125% of your average monthly card takings.
You will pay the loan back at a rate of 11%-15% of the card takings. I'm assuming that you will take card payments as you say you are B2C.
The loan providers may not put an emphasis on the directors in Spain as long as there is a Director in the UK who is a homeowner.

Let me know if you need any assistance.

Neil
 
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