Wokingham: Manufacturer gains CBILS support from Barclays

A Berkshire family-owned manufacturer and installer of high-performance door locking and bolting systems, which has been in business for over five decades, has secured its future post-lockdown having gained access to the government-backed Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) from Barclays.

The funding, which formed part of a wider bespoke financial package, ensured the firm could pay its suppliers, provide financial support to its staff and keep the firm safely operational during the recent challenging times.

The company originally incorporated back in 1964 and has been a customer of Barclays for over 60 years. The Surelock McGill Group was then Incorporated in 2002 and operates from its head office at Molly Millars Lane, Wokingham, as well as subsidiaries in Bedfordshire, Manchester and Kentucky (North America).

The firm supplies products to a global customer base in addition to providing security and life-safety requirements for many key high-security national projects in the UK. As lockdown has eased, and as more customers and sites begin to re-open, the company is optimistic normal trading levels will return building upon its strong performance at the start of the year.

John McGill, Group managing director, said: “The CBILS loan has given us a useful safety net in helping us mitigate the potential impact of the pandemic. The year started extremely well for us, but in the interest of everyone’s safety and to comply with government guidelines, we had to adapt our business model accordingly. Despite our very healthy financial footing, the uncertainty surrounding future cash flows due to the pandemic led us to consider whether such a safety net may be useful, and Mathew Howson, our relationship director at Barclays, acted swiftly in assisting us with this funding.

"Although we were very confident we would be able to  pay our suppliers, keep our manufacturing processes running and meet our contractual obligations, albeit socially distanced and at a much-reduced level, the CBILS facility put in place by Barclays just gave us that added security we were looking for with the uncertainty all business are currently experiencing.”

Mathew Howson, relationship director at Barclays, Thames Valley, added: “Our relationship with this client goes back nearly 60 years, but never before have we experienced times like these. After exploring all options, we worked quickly to secure the business a CBILS which gave them the comfort they were looking for, rather than having to worry about worst case scenarios. Surelock McGill is one of many firms that represent the backbone of Britain and are a great example of how the CBILS can assist businesses up and down the country.”