Dusk Till Dawn

In November 2009 my partner and I were given an opportunity to take over an existing business in Olney, trading under a new name and new premises.

We are both experienced retailers, my partner coming from a senior position in High Street Retail and myself with a background in Food Retail

After approaching our bank we were told that being a vulnerable time for “retail” we would need to submit a full Business Case, including P&L , cash flow forecasts for the next 3 years.

Neither myself nor my partner felt we had the necessary experience to produce this on our own and therefore approached Ad Valorem in Olney for their professional help.

We also needed to produce this quickly as we wanted to open our boutique in time for spring and the important “Prom” season and “May Balls”.

It was easy to arrange a meeting at short notice with Nigel Adams, Managing Director, who we found extremely easy to talk with and explained the processes we needed to undertake to satisfy our application to the Bank.

Nigel referred us to his brother David, who again we found extremely helpful and explained in more detail what Ad Val needed from us.

David then built a full business case with our input on projected sales, turnover, expenditures etc. and went through this with us explaining different scenarios and how they could affect us.

We were delighted to find also that Ad Val had a good working relationship already with our Bank Manager so they were able to communicate direct on anything that needed changing before admission to the Bank HO.

Needless to say our Business case was accepted and we managed to open before the end of Feb 2010, in time for our all important Spring season.

Without the help and advice we received from Ad Valorem I believe that even with over 45 years retail experience between us, we would have struggled to produce the required Business Case.

Since opening we have had great support from the firm, they always answer any queries we have and also support us with regular contact from Kirsty Parris, their Client Services Manager.

I can’t thank Ad Valorem enough for their support which has allowed us to open the business of our dreams.”

Prity Hair & John Buckton
Dusk Till Dawn