London-based craft beer brewery - the Crate story: Meeting in a bar over a few beers and a couple of pizzas, the founders realised they shared a love for both of these things and wanted to make their own. Less than two weeks later they had signed a lease on Hackney Wick’s iconic White Building, the space Crate Brewery still calls home today. Fast forward to 2019 and Crate has a second (much bigger) brewery and distribution warehouse onsite. They produce 1 million pints of beer each year and make an impressive array of pizzas every day. Just 7 years on from opening the business, they’ve self-funded their growth to nearly £5 million.
Goal
Region
East London
Industry
Beverage
The Challenge
Long payment terms
The Solution
Kriya Lending
How Crate Brewery used invoice finance to overcome a cashflow squeeze
Crate Brewery partnered up with a large supermarket chain. They increased production hugely to fulfill their orders but then had to wait up to 60 days to be paid.
This put a great deal of pressure on cash flow.
There were a lot of upfront costs for raw materials, packaging, staff and so on but most of their working capital was getting tied up in outstanding invoices.
With demand for their beer greater than ever before, they knew they’d need funding to keep up. They had initially approached their bank but were hesitant to take on the whole-ledger facility they had been offered.
Selective invoice finance was a great credit solution.
Crate started looking into alternative providers that could offer greater flexibility and that’s when they found MarketFinance. They signed up for a selective facility, so they have the freedom to simply login to the MarketFinance platform and fund invoices as and when they need to.
Tom Seaton, Founder & Director
For us, Crate is all about making great ideas happen. It's a place where food, music, art and beers come together.
"Using the platform has been great, it's very straightforward. Our account manager is also very responsive."
