Plain sailing with Reward on board

Business Finance ensures boat builder not down in the doldrums

What started as a hobby turned into a passion for entrepreneur Ray Davis.

He had always been interested in boats which led to a group of his friends, who shared the same enthusiasm, investing in the building of a top of the range 60-foot luxury yacht.

They established Quaestus Yachts and teamed up with one of the leading yacht design studios, Dixon Yacht Designs, with the aim of providing the ultimate cruising experience.

For the construction, Ray will be drawing on the specialist skills of companies within his successful Quaestus Group, which includes vehicle maintenance and engineering, as well as using the boat building expertise of several of his industrial tenants.

With a price tag of £1.5m each, they will be using the latest manufacturing and infusion techniques, with the buyer able to choose their own interiors.

Having completed the mould, the company needed a short-term working capital injection of £650,000 to begin production of the Quaestus 60.

Ray was introduced to Reward, by Graham Shaw of GMS Services, and our Senior Relationship Manager, Alan Sanderson, and Risk Director, Tim Stafford wasted no time in going to meet with Ray and his colleagues.

They were fully briefed about the exciting plans for the luxury yacht with Ray taking them through the various stages of production, which had all been carefully scheduled. He also explained about the expertise they were able to call upon for the construction, which gave them added confidence.

Furthermore, they also established that Ray and his fellow directors ran an extremely profitable group of companies, providing further assurance.

With sufficient security in place, we agreed to a Business Finance facility, to enable Quaestus Yachts to turn the concept into reality and to help put ‘wind in their sales’.

“It was great to meet Reward who were impressed with what we have already achieved and the luxury specification of the finished yacht,” said Ray. “We were delighted when they agreed to provide us with the necessary funds to turn our dream into reality.”