Case Studies

It all began back in 2015 for Eric Kihlstrom and his two co-founders when they started Kareinn, a business which addressed a gap in the market for care planning software.

Founded straight out of university, Terence’s company upcycles discarded flip flops to create sustainable sandals

28 year old TJ Bouchada, founder of private nail salon Moody Cow Nails. TJ took out her loan of £12,000, via Let’s Do Business Finance, to open her own private nail salon.

Cory Hibbin, aged 20, is just one of these recipients. He took out a loan in March 2023 of £14,500 to launch Techie Services. The company, based in Hastings, offers security solutions for residential clients, estates and corporate buildings, including CCTV, alarm systems and network management.

Pallavi decided to follow her dreams of becoming a business owner in April 2021 after the Coronavirus pandemic forced her to re-evaluate her priorities. She left a career in finance and took out a loan of £19,000 in 2022 to curate and share natural homewares crafted by rural artisans from around the world, drawing inspiration from her mother’s unwavering passion for home decor and sustainability.

Katy Lassen borrowed £25,500 to grow into Harbour and Tide. Harbour & Tide is a modern local beach store in Margate, offering functional, joyful, and sustainable products for seaside life. The store was launched as a pop-up in 2022 and opened its first permanent location in Margate in Spring 2023.

Jeroo Doodmal secured a £15,000 loan in December 2021 to launch her sustainable Children’s footwear brand Pip & Henry, having noticed a gap in the market for sustainable, organic, and fair-trade children’s footwear options.

Rachael Hurton has always had a passion for dance and performance and in 2014 she brought her dream to life by starting Synergy Dance – a dance fitness programme for children of all ages.

Alyssa launched her business, Peach Blossom, in March 2015. She works at the business full-time and currently employs an assistant on a part-time basis.

Joel Griggs grew up fascinated with all things crime related. After spotting some abandoned caves along the Hastings waterfront -caves which turned out to have previously housed everything from hotel generators to druid groups at the turn of the 19th century- he immediately saw their potential.

Christian Wilse launched Seniors Helping Seniors, and started trading officially in January 2014.

Rumbi Serima-Fowler started her business Mimi’s Organics in 2014 after struggling to find products to suit the skin of her son, who suffers from numerous allergies.

Providing two state of the art i-sopods, a therapy room, quiet room and space for yoga and pilates, Floating Point Float Centre is Berkshire’s only dedicated floatation therapy centre.

Mike Turner and his partner Krisi started their Brighton-based tea mixology company, Bird & Blend Tea Co., with the help of a Start Up Loan.