Business Bio
Arrow Cars, founded in 2004, is the second largest private hire company in Leeds. Through a process of bolt-on acquisition, it has been making its mark nationally; it is the largest specialist airport operator in the UK, and has invested heavily in technology to run online booking and payment systems as well as a customer app.
Loan Amount
£1,250,000
Region
North East
Funding Need
Working capital & Acquisition
Sector
Taxi operation
Their Journey
Arrow Cars had been growing by focusing on the provincial areas around its established bases, where there was less competition. The company has contracts with four major airports, providing 49% of revenue, as well as a number of corporate accounts with local universities, councils, professional services, and hotels. Alongside Leeds, it has operations in Manchester, the East Midlands and Bristol.
They were looking to raise funding for the acquisition of another taxi business, and worked with SME Capital to source the finance through ThinCats. The acquisition increased the size of the Arrow fleet from 500 to 660, putting them in a much better position to take on larger contracts and create both revenue and cost synergies.
Website: www.arrowprivatehire.co.uk
The deal was a straight-forward credit story, and the company wanted to deal with someone who could make a rapid underwriting decision. The process went very smoothly – the deal was structured rapidly, and was executed in just a few weeks.
