£2M Boost for Sunseekers

North West sunbed and tanning shop specialist Sunseekers has secured a £2m loan from ThinCats as part of its plans to increase its presence across the region.

ThinCats was introduced to the Sunseekers team by advisers Dave Graham and Philip Hodgson of Dow Schofield Watts, who had strong ties with the firm.

Established and run by managing director, Ben Smith, Sunseekers Sunbeds opened its first store in Maghull in 2001.

In January 2019, it launched its 18th with the funding boost set to allow the business to expand to 31 sites over the next 12 months.

Ben Slack, Andrew Curtis and Aarti Parmar at Clarion Solicitors provided legal support for the deal.

“Sunseekers started as a small business with big ambitions, growing organically to now spanning 19 salons across the North West,” said Smith. “When we went out for financing, we needed a solution that would suit our business and its strategy and ThinCats offered what we needed and more from a lender with their proactive and pragmatic approach to business.”

Ben Kimball, director of regional business development at ThinCats, added: “When Ben at Sunseekers reached out to us, I saw an opportunity to help an ambitious local enterprise.

“A well-considered and thoughtful growth plan meant that we were able to structure a credit backed offering in a timely fashion, enabling Ben and his team to move the businesses forward.”

sunseekers