A Falmouth-based marine business has been successful in accessing funding for business growth from alternative finance lender, SWIG Finance.
Feritech, which is a geotechnical equipment specialist and innovator for sub-sea and harsh environment technology, accessed the funding via SWIG Finance through the South West Loans Fund.
Since launching in 2012, husband and wife team, Robert and Gemma Ferris, have grown the business to five full-time employees, as well as working extensively with other local freelancers and specialists for specific projects.
With the opportunity to expand into a gap in the market, Feritech approached SWIG Finance for financial support to develop a new piece of equipment.
The technology is geotechnical survey equipment which includes vibrocorers, cone penetration testing, thermal conductivity and all the most popular sediment sampling grabs and corers.
The new development by Feritech combines these elements into a single unit, potentially offering thousands of pounds worth of savings to companies over the course of a project.
Gemma Ferris said: “We saw there was a gap in the market for the piece of equipment we wanted to develop.
“When we get a good idea we need to progress it to market as swiftly as possible. Oil prices are low and so equipment that can save money on essential tasks will sell. Our latest innovative system is unique and we wanted to get it built and marketed before another company did so we approached SWIG Finance for the funding.
“The support from SWIG Finance has been invaluable and we’ve had a lot of interest already in the technology.”
In 2015, SWIG Finance lent just under £5 million to 430 businesses across the region. In the last 12 months, 72 growing south west businesses have received over £2 million in essential finance with 31 of those businesses based in Cornwall and the Isle of Scilly.
